NSW Greens Accuse Minns Government of “Procedural Trickery” Over Sackar Review

The Minns Labor government has failed to release the long-awaited Sackar Review into hate speech protections for vulnerable communities, despite a Greens motion in the NSW Legislative Council two weeks ago which attempted to compel its disclosure.

Greens LGBTQIA+ spokesperson Dr Amanda Cohn put forward the motion in the NSW upper house which ordered the government to produce the Sackar Review, which they have been sitting on since November. However after reporting on the motion, a NSW government spokesperson reached out to Star Observer to inform that as the report is still before cabinet ahead of a decision being made by the government, the motion is not able force the release of these cabinet documents, as claimed by the Greens.

Now that the April 1st deadline has passed, Dr Cohn has condemned the government’s inaction.

“While we are considering further changes to hate crime laws in Parliament, it’s troubling that the NSW Government refuses to share an independent review it commissioned into the very issues we are debating,” Dr Cohn said. “A cynic might wonder whether the findings don’t align with the government’s approach.”

The dispute echoes a previous parliamentary clash: on March 24 and 26, Penny Sharpe, leader of the government in the Legislative Council, was suspended after being found in contempt for failing to comply with a similar order for documents.

“We are seeing a pattern of the Minns Labor Government obstructing access to information and undermining parliamentary processes,” said Dr Cohn.

Last year, the NSW government appointed John Sackar AM KC to review criminal law protections against hate speech for vulnerable communities.

54 different organisations contributed to the Sackar Review of criminal law protections against the incitement of hatred, including Equality Australia, ACON, the HIV/AIDS legal centre, Rainbow Families and other advocates for LGBTQIA+ communities.

Dr Cohn has vowed to use the full powers of the Legislative Council to try and get the report released.

“It’s galling that the Minns Labor government is resorting to procedural trickery to continue to bury this review that so profoundly impacts LGBTQIA+ and other groups subjected to hatred,” she said in a statement.

“The government doesn’t get to decide whether or not to comply with an order of the Parliament on behalf of the communities that we represent.