Former senator Rex Patrick filed a freedom of information (FOI) request on October 21, 2022, seeking access to documents held by the Police Commissioner and the head of the Mounted Operations Unit about the relocation of the Thebarton police barracks.

Police refused to hand over 21 documents it found within the scope of Patrick’s request, including one prepared by the government’s land agency Renewal SA which would reveal the site options for housing a new police horse barracks.

SA Police cited exemptions afforded to cabinet documents and files that affect law enforcement and public safety.

It also argued disclosure of some documents, including the Renewal SA site options, would impact commercial activities.

Patrick appealed SA Police’s refusal to the state Ombudsman in January amid a protracted FOI battle which has now taken more than seven months to resolve.

On Monday, the state Ombudsman handed down his final determination, ordering SA Police to release 11 of the documents in full and a further eight in part. Two documents that were cabinet submissions will remain confidential.

SA Police have 30 days from June 5 to consider appealing the Ombudsman’s decision to the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Asked on ABC Radio Adelaide this morning whether SA Police would comply with the Ombudsman’s determination, Stevens said: “I’ve got 30 days from that determination to consider my position, and we’re getting advice on that.”

“It’s not stubbornness or just being recalcitrant.

“I’ve got obligations to the government in my role and we made an assessment through our processes for freedom of information releases and we determined that we would not release the material based on those requirements.

“The Ombudsman has a different view, that’s being assessed now and we’ll make our decision within that 30 day period.”

Stevens said the assessment would “dictate whether we comply with the Ombudsman now or seek a further review”.

He also denied that the state government had made a “specific request” for police to keep the documents secret.

Police commissioner Grant Stevens. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

“A lot of the information that we are referring to here forms advice to cabinet, and there are rules around what can and can’t be released if it forms part of advice or information (to cabinet),” he said.

Asked if he cared about keeping the documents, Stevens said: “Not particularly”.

“I’ll abide by the advice I’m provided and my obligations to government.”

Stevens also rejected former senator Patrick’s accusation on Tuesday that the Police Commissioner was deliberately “dragging the chain” on the FOI request.

“I’m certainly not dragging the chain as may have been suggested by some commentators – I’ll abide by the process,” he said.

“I’m not personally invested in whether or not we release this information.”

The state government has since August 2022 been weighing up where to house SA Police’s Mounted Operations Unit following its controversial decision to raze the state heritage listed Thebarton barracks for a new $3.2bn hospital.

Stevens said police were given 15 site options to assess after advising the government on the operational requirements for the police horses.

The Malinauskas Government has refused to reveal the alternative options for building a new police horse barracks other than a controversial southern park lands site (Park 21 West) nominated by SA Police in March.

That site – an eight-hectare plot of city park land on the corner of Greenhill Road and Sir Lewis Cohen Avenue – remains one of four options being considered by the government.

“We still maintain that of the sites we were provided in that first run Park 21 was operationally the best,” Stevens said.

“We also saw it to be the least impactful on the use of the park lands.

“I know other people have a different view about that, but the advice I’m provided in terms of the impact on native vegetation and other biodiversity issues, our assessment was it was least impactful, operationally the most effective.

“But there was another site that was probably almost as good that we could have led with.”

Stevens said police were aiming to get the police horses out of the Thebarton barracks “by early 2024″.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said on Monday the government intends to announce the location of the new police horse barracks within the next fortnight.