The NSW Supreme Court will be asked to make a final ruling to stop a national newspaper from publishing details regarding automotive industry subsidies.
A collection of 39 documents, including briefing memos and what the government describes as “Cabinet documents”, were sent in error to the The Australian Financial Review in response to a Freedom of Information request. The information covers details of lobbying by and the future viability of the automotive manufacturing sector.
The Industry Department has cited the commercially sensitive nature of the documents among the reasons they be kept secret. The federal government is asking the Supreme Court to rule on the case on Tuesday, the AFR reports.
“There are very sensitive commercial issues in those documents, very sensitive, that would have a very negative effect,” said industry minister Greg Combet last week.