Radical honesty is rare but welcome in politics.

When it happens we should celebrate it.

This week a senior Liberal (new to the job) who is designated to give press gallery journalists a briefing on what happened in the Coalition's partyroom dropped a doozy.

Accusations of secrecy

Sussan Ley, we were informed, used the meeting of her Liberal and Nationals colleagues to tee off against the government's planned freedom of information "reforms".

The changes — which include expanding the range of documents likely to be denied, introduction of application fees, and limits on how long the public service spends gathering material — are largely friendless outside the government.

Ley told her colleagues that Labor has a growing "culture of secrecy".

Labor plans to weaken FOI laws Photo sho

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