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Glass House FOI - Gotta love the bureaucracy

Glass House FOI - Gotta love the bureaucracy

QLD Bureacracy follow the same path as their NSW counterparts in release of documents requested through FOI about potential closure of long established routes in our National Parks.

Last July 023 I placed an application under the QLD Right to Information Act 2009 relating to the closure of the Glasshouse Mountains. My initial inquiry requested "Documents, reports and correspondence relating the closure of Mt Beerwah, Mount Tibrogargan and Mount Mt Coonowrin."

After some discussion with the FOI officer the terms of reference for my inquiry were altered to the following: "All documents containing consideration by the Government to permanently close any of the Glasshouse Mountains to preserve the cultural heritage of First Nations peoples."

After some weeks a response came back (31 August 2023) that there were no documents that met these terms:

Letter from QLD Dep Science and Environment - we have nothing for you!

I was quite surprised and asked if the specific terms "Beerwah" and "Tibrogargan" were used. It seems they were not, instead the search used the broader term Glass House Mountains as per the terms the FOI officer recommended. Despite both Beerwah and Tibrogargan being among the Glass House Mountains to my amazement the FOI officer indicated I would need to place a new application and pay an additional fee if I wanted these terms to be searched. 

I found this to be ridiculous and argued that Beerwah and Tibrogargan were covered by the terms of reference. I was told there would be no further searches and I would have to seek a review through the QLD  Office of the Information Commissioner.

In September 2023 I requested this review. Today I received the outcome - see copies below. This included a letter dated 23 October 2018 from a policy wonk working for the Minister to a member of the public about the Government's position on public access to the Glass House Mountains (also below).  

It seems I have no other recourse than to place a new application and pay an additional fee, which I have done. Petty Bureaucracy in action once again! (Where is the "service" in the Public Service these days?)

Letter from OIC 19 January 2024

2018 letter referred to by the OIC.

At least this part in the 2018 letter is positive, but what is the government's current position?...

"The Queensland Government through the Department of Environment and Science (the department) acknowledges the importance of the Glasshouse Mountains National Park to the people of Queensland and has no plans to permanently close public access. Occasionally, some routes and tracks are impacted by natural events such as rock fall, unstable rocks, bushfire, very heavy rainfall or seismic activity and require temporary closure for maintenance and repair, or to deal with significant safety issues, but no permanent closures are planned for the area." 



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