The Forum Secretariat’s regional governance adviser, Dr. Henry Ivarature, made the comments on the topic of “Pacific Plan, Regionalism, Democratic Government and FOI” at the FOI training workshop for Pacific policy makers which opened in the Solomon Islands.
“Bringing freedom of information legislation to Forum member countries is a long-term commitment with positive implications for many governments with poor record keeping systems, limited official Web sites or disclosure systems. In this respect, sensitivity must be shown for each country’s particular situation, to work progressively on an appropriate time frame for the changes to be introduced,” Ivarature said.
“However, this does not mean that we wait until all the basics are fixed,” he added.
“You cannot wait for an ideal situation for FOI legislation to be introduced. In many respects, introducing freedom of information legislation helps to strengthen these areas which are lacking.”
The Forum Secretariat is still at an early stage of its thinking about FOI legislation and the “right to know” among Forum members.
“While the initiative is fairly open, it does provide the Secretariat with a mandate to explore and support Forum Member Countries working on freedom of information in the region,” he said.
Apart from Australia and New Zealand, Cook Islands is the first Forum member country to adopt FOI legislation. The law was passed in February 2008 and will come into force in 2009.
