William Summers

Former Twitter user.

[William Summers @william_summers]

@PRGuy17 Refs: https://t.co/SdQgl5krNa (table 1) https://t.co/59OJ7qqyYt (table 1) https://t.co/OgNTSR6ITd (table 3.1) https://t.co/DPCxzUGAhJ (table 1.1)

[William Summers @william_summers]

@PRGuy17 Why do you say it's false? What figures are you basing your own fact-check on?

Vic govt fiscal updated said $116bn net debt for 2022/23

NSW/Qld/Tas combined is $101bn for same year

Vic debt is higher than NSW/Qld/Tas now, as well as projected debt

[William Summers @william_summers]

Finally, to acknowledge the FOI aspect of this, govt kept all this secret for more than 2.5yrs on basis report was a cabinet doc. It wasn't....

[William Summers @william_summers]

'Gaetjens report' that led to Bridget McKenzie's ministerial resignation in Feb 2020 has finally been released by govt, following 2.5yr FOI battle.

Want it? It's here 👇🧵 #auspol

[William Summers @william_summers]

Gaetjens said in report: "I cannot reconcile such large variations in the final approval results compared to recommendations based on the published assessment criteria..."

BUT (as flagged by Morrison at the time) Gaetjens disagreed with ANAO that grants were politically targeted

[William Summers @william_summers]

If you remember, this was about how sports grants were allocated under a Morrison govt program called the 'Community Sport Infrastructure Program', prior to 2019 fed election. ANAO found government targeted grants at marginal seats https://t.co/z9FjL7fxQH

[William Summers @william_summers]

Quickest dispute resolution by the way was just under one year. Longest was just over 5 years, dating back to a request submitted in November 2016. #auspol #FOI

[William Summers @william_summers]

Just did updated analysis of how long it's taking for Freedom of Information disputes to be finalised by Info Commissioner.

On average now 1148 days or *MORE THAN 3 YEARS* from time of initial request to IC decision.

= FOIs disputed today are unlikely to be resolved until 2025!

[William Summers @william_summers]

Disputed #FOI requests now taking average 2 yrs 4 months from when request first submitted to final decision by Info Commissioner. That means if you submit FOI today & govt refuses to release info, you won't be getting it before *2022* fed election. #righttoknow

[William Summers @william_summers]

Sample analysis is of all FOI decisions finalised by @OAICgov Nov 2021-Jan 2022 (38 decisions).

OAIC not the problem per se. Requires more funding to finalise disputes quicker - and also a genuine commitment to transparency by all parts of govt.

[William Summers @william_summers]

Utterly bizarre that ministers who send out dozens of signed letters every week & have signature freely available on govt websites often have their signature redacted from FOI documents like it's a state secret

[William Summers @william_summers]

Ok so now we know what happened to Clive Palmer’s missing 5m hydroxychloroquine doses 💥💥💥 https://t.co/3PWPhOvl3N via @knausc @mmcgowan #auspol

[William Summers @william_summers]

My FOI story about Clive Palmer’s hydroxychloroquine donation to the national stockpile last year, his failed request to get his name on the labels & the mystery of 1000kg hydroxy abandoned at Melbourne Airport after Govt told Palmer to stop the donations https://t.co/1SWhfgkchb

[William Summers @william_summers]

My FOI story about Clive Palmer’s hydroxychloroquine donation to the national stockpile last year, his failed request to get his name on the labels & the mystery of 1000kg hydroxy abandoned at Melbourne Airport after Govt told Palmer to stop the donations https://t.co/1SWhfgkchb

[William Summers @william_summers]

I don't have time or inclination to look into effectiveness of other states' travel voucher schemes but suspect all similar to Vic. Would love somebody else to analyse/write about what actually works to support businesses recovering from COVID. 🙏

[William Summers @william_summers]

Most Australian states have used travel voucher schemes to inject money into tourism businesses hit by lockdowns. But do they work??

Short thread with some new figures I've obtained for Vic travel voucher scheme 🧵

[William Summers @william_summers]

Also need to acknowledge that state govts are doing all sorts of other things to support businesses affected by COVID, eg tax and rent subsidies. This thread is purely about the cost/value of travel voucher schemes.