I completely agree that a considerable share of cabinet documents, especially those involving discussions between ministers, must remain confidential in our system, which is based on the Westminster model.
However, what I deplore—and I believe the current commissioner deplores it too—is the absence of a review power. The mere fact that a document is from cabinet is enough to make it inaccessible, and no third party, not even the Federal Court, has the power to confirm that assertion.
A right of review would not mean that all kinds of cabinet confidences would be released into the public domain or that open disclosure would become the norm. It would simply give the commissioner the same oversight, in relation to such documents, as she has with all other documents.
We are talking about an exclusion. And, now that I'm a private citizen, I do not simply take elected representatives or ministers at their word. I would be much more comfortable if my access right were protected by a third party, with the power to confirm or dispute it.