Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor delayed releasing an official report showing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions were rising, even though it had been completed weeks earlier and the Senate had set a legal deadline for its release, government documents have revealed.
Emails from the Department of Environment and Energy, obtained by the ABC under Freedom of Information laws, show the quarterly update to the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory and a brief for the minister seeking its release were prepared by at least May 21 this year.
The update revealed Australia's greenhouse gas emissions continued an upward trend that began in 2013, hitting record highs in some sectors.
Under a senate order established in October last year, the report should have been tabled by May 31.
Instead, a news story on the emissions data appeared on The Australian's website at 12:00am on June 6. The report was published nearly 11 hours later on a government website and then tabled in parliament on June 12.
"The brief seeking the Minister's decision to table the December 2018 quarterly update had just been sent through to parliamentary," wrote one staff member to another on May 21, a reference to the department of parliamentary services which provides support to the parliament.
Server logs, also obtained by the ABC under Freedom of Information laws, show the department created the webpage where the data was published two days later — but it could not be accessed by the public for almost a fortnight.
Mr Taylor was announced as Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction five days after the report was completed.
The next day he was sent the data and brief.
He declined an interview request by the ABC but in a statement said: "The report was made public the week after I was sworn in as Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction".
"As you would expect from any responsible minister, I always carefully consider the briefings and documents presented to me by my department. I made no exception in this case, and I make no apology for it," he added.
Centre Alliance Senator Rex Patrick said he was concerned about the way the Government had dealt with emissions data.
"The Government needs to take its obligations to inform the public properly seriously," he told the ABC.
"Unless you provide people with information, it's difficult for people to engage in policy development or indeed in government."
This was not the first time the Government delayed releasing the quarterly report.
Last year, then-environment minister Melissa Price released the report late on the Friday before the AFL and NRL grand finals, when the findings of the banking royal commission were dominating headlines.
Previously, the report has been delayed for months and then released in the days before Christmas.
After these repeated delays, the Greens, with support from Labor and the crossbench, established a senate order of continuing effect, requiring the reports be published within five months of the end of the quarter.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale said the Government was treating the parliament with "utter contempt".
"They feel that they've got absolute power," he told the ABC.
Senator Patrick said that given the previous delays, missing the Senate's deadline was disturbing.
"We must remember that not complying with a senate order of continuing effect is a fairly serious matter," he said.
But Senator Patrick said the timing of the election, the relatively short delay, and the Minister's statement saying he wanted to consider the report carefully were mitigating factors.
Senator Di Natale said by issuing the senate order, the Parliament has indicated it wanted Australia's figures to be published in the same way as national accounts data.
"Not to give an opportunity to the Government of the day to leak the figures to its favourite journalists in an effort to try and hide the truth of what's happening," he said.
Before the report was published online, details from it had been shared with The Australian.
The story that ran featured quotes only from Mr Taylor and focused on his assertion that Australia's LNG exports, which were driving up emissions here, could reduce global emissions by replacing dirtier fuels.
