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In short:
Auditor General Caroline Spencer says the state government denied her office access to information relating to Griffin Coal's insolvency.
Ms Spencer says this is "concerning" and raises questions about transparency.
What's next?
After the Auditor General spoke to the media, the government disclosed the amount in Parliament.
Legal bills for the ongoing bailout of the failed South West Griffin Coal mine have topped half a million dollars, while questions remain about why the cost was kept secret.
The revelation came in state parliament after the WA Auditor General spoke to ABC Radio Perth on Wednesday morning and claimed the state government had withheld relevant contract information.
Head of WA's independent watchdog Caroline Spencer called the denial of access to routine information "unusual" and said it raised "concerning" questions of transparency and accountability.
Parliamentary secretary representing the Attorney General John Quigley, Matthew Swinburne, disclosed the amount paid to the international law firm Ashurst from December 2022 to August 2024.
In parliament, he said it was $543,670 for the services of 19 solicitors and three clerks who worked on various issues relating to the insolvency of Griffin Coal in Collie.
It came after reports the government had extended a taxpayer-funded lifeline to the foreign-owned coal mine to the tune of more than $200 million.
Loading...The government's initial refusal to disclose the additional legal costs and nature of the services was brought to the attention of the Auditor General's office.
The government then refused a request for more information, citing "commercial-in-confidence".
According to Ms Spencer, her office received very limited information.
The office found that commercial-in-confidence did not apply to the amount paid to Ashurst for legal advice.
"Commercial-in-confidence is about commercial interests of the state, not about the third party," Ms Spencer said.
"So, just because you've entered into a contract with a third party as government doesn't mean that it's bound by commercial confidentiality."
Auditor General concerned
Ms Spencer said the fact that the state government had blocked the independent watchdog from performing its role was even more "concerning".
"We weren't able to do our job in relation to the contracts because we were denied access to the contracts for service," she said.
According to Ms Spencer, the Auditor General's office usually would not speak about these processes publicly.
"Normally when we act as a veracity check on minister's claims around why they can't provide information to Parliament, we don't normally speak to media about it," she told ABC Radio Perth.
"It's very unusual … and that's why I'm speaking to you today, because it's so unusual."
Before the disclosure in parliament, a state government spokesperson said it was committed to transparency through its laws, which had given the Auditor General "unprecedented" access to government information.
Opposition response
Liberal MLC Steven Thomas said the state government's refusal to hand over this information to the independent watchdog raised serious concerns about accountability.
"The current government got elected in 2017 on a promise of gold standard transparency. I think that claim is now in tatters," he said.
"It is astounding for an Auditor General to say the government is denying us that information."
He said the Auditor General needed to have access to any information required.
"So that they can do the job of assuring the parliament and the people that government is running true to form and they're being honest," Dr Thomas said.
He said the government had previously assured the Auditor General would get more access to information.
"The reality appears to be … that the Auditor General is getting much less, and that's a terrible outcome for this state."