All of the 159 documents in BoM’s “Schedule” are said to be communications received in confidence by the Australian Federal Government from a foreign Government.
Hah!
They simply cannot reconcile that claim with these actual Bureau descriptions:
Have a look at them:
| Doc | Date | Pages | Author | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 49 | 8/10/2010 | 3 | Bureau | Internal discussion regarding media coverage of NIWA Court case leading to preparation of Senate Estimates briefing. |
| 50 | 8/10/2010 | 3 | Bureau | Attachment to Doc 49. |
| 51 | 8/10/2010 | 2 | Bureau | Draft doc outlining review process, for Senate briefing. |
| 52 | 8/10/2010 | 4 | Bureau | Further discussion re media coverage NIWA case. |
| 53 | 8/10/2010 | 3 | Bureau | Attachment to Doc 52. Draft briefing for Estimates. |
| 54 | 8/10/2010 | 4 | Bureau | Further discussion re media coverage NIWA case. |
| 55 | 8/10/2010 | 3 | Bureau | Draft briefing for Senate Estimates. |
| 141 | 21/12/10 | 1 | Bureau | Internal discussion re media interest in NIWA case, and Bureau media response policy. |
| 150 | 23/12/10 | 2 | Bureau | Further discussion re media response policy. |
| 151 | 23/12/10 | 3 | Bureau | Bureau media management policy for NIWA review. |
These documents didn’t come from a foreign country, much less a foreign Government — the Bureau’s own staff wrote them! It was surely never the purpose of the Freedom Of Information Act to give conniving public servants something to hide behind.
The descriptions in this list have the ring of a highly-politicised Government department which relies on media spin far above the traditional scientific quest for truth.
The Bureau’s management should release these documents immediately, before public suspicions are aroused. More damage will be done to their reputation by stubborn refusal, obfuscation and delaying tactics than by confessing some minor infractions in procedure.
Let them reflect on what has happened to NIWA, who, instead of sensibly agreeing that they could not provide the temperature adjustments and it would be a good idea to reconstruct the series, carried on a stupid fight for months before finally agreeing to reconstruct the series!
It’s a disgrace. What is the Bureau hiding?
Views: 62
What are they hiding? They are covering their bare, spotty bums from being whacked by the rod of scrutiny, insight and truth. Prevention of divulgence of correspondence which would reveal unethical, or at best unprofessional, conduct is much easier to accomplish than concocting media spin and managing damage control.
I have emailed Jo Nova to see if she can publicise the matters you raise.
A couple of years ago the BoM made an embarrassing back-down on claims that Antartica was heating up:
http://www.warwickhughes.com/blog/?p=217