The Labor government’s changes to limit access to freedom of information (FoI) requests appear to be dead in the water, with the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, saying the Coalition will vote against the “friendless” proposal.

After the Greens and key crossbenchers also voiced their outrage, there currently appears to be no pathway for the government to pass the reforms through the Senate. But the attorney general, Michelle Rowland, says she remains committed to the contentious reform, criticising the Coalition for once again reshuffling its frontbench and naming yet another new shadow legal spokesperson.

In an op-ed published in the Canberra Times on Monday, Ley wrote “the opposition will stand firmly against these changes”.

The shadow attorney general, Julian Leeser, had previously spoken strongly against the proposal, labelling it a “truth tax”, but had not formally committed the Coalition to opposing the changes, pending a parliamentary inquiry and a security briefing from the government. Coalition sources said Ley’s op-ed was the first explicit commitment to voting against the FoI changes.

“We will defend the principles of openness and accountability that are essential to a healthy democracy,” Ley wrote in the Canberra Times.

“This is not an administrative refinement or merely updating old laws, as the prime minister claims. It is a retreat from transparency.”

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It is understood the government had offered the opposition a briefing on why it believed the changes were necessary.

The government last month announced the biggest changes to transparency rules in a generation, including new charges for FoI requests and tighter rules around access to information which could see more requests either refused or more heavily redacted. It would impose a time limit on how long public servants spend on each request, effectively curbing what information can be sought.

The Albanese government has already been criticised by the Centre for Public Integrity for curbing information from FoI requests, reporting in July that the number of FoI requests granted in full decreased from 59% in 2011-12 to 25% in 2023-24, while outright refusals doubled from 12 to 23% in the same period.

Rowland has argued artificial intelligence-generated mass requests could flood the FoI system, that current rules are wasting time and resources of government departments, and raised concerns about foreign governments or malicious actors seeking information. Officials from her department could not cite detailed examples of this in Senate estimates last week.

Current rules already hold exemptions for national security risks, unnecessarily complex requests, and “irrelevant” information.

In a statement, Rowland’s spokesperson called the Coalition’s position “both premature and confused”.

“On one hand, the Coalition has said they will wait until they get a security briefing before coming to a final position, and on the other they’re announcing policy positions in opinion pieces,” the spokesperson said, adding the government “remains committed” to the reform.

The independent senator David Pocock, a critic of the FoI changes, praised Ley’s stance. He wrote on social media: “Good to see the opposition recognise these deep flaws – the bill should not pass.”

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The former senator Rex Patrick, who runs a consultancy business called Transparency Warrior helping people file FoI requests, wrote: “Thank you for standing up for democracy.”

The Centre for Public Integrity praised Ley for an “excellent stance” and called instead for “an independent and comprehensive review of FoI”.

In a written statement, Leeser accused the Labor government of overseeing “a surge in FoI refusals”, as well as criticising the government’s use of non-disclosure agreements when consulting with stakeholder groups, and failing to meet deadlines set by the Senate to produce documents.

He noted that most submissions to the parliamentary inquiry had been critical of the change.

On Monday, Ley also announced a shadow ministry reshuffle which will see Leeser transferred from shadow attorney general to shadow education minister. Andrew Wallace, currently the shadow cabinet secretary, will take up the shadow attorney general role.

“The Government will not be lectured about matters related to the Attorney-General’s portfolio by a party who just today announced their fourth change to the position of shadow Attorney-General in less than four years,” Rowland’s spokesperson added in their response to Ley’s op-ed.

Senator Jonno Duniam, now the education shadow, will move into the home affairs portfolio. That role was left vacant by the resignation of Andrew Hastie, who quit as shadow home affairs minister after a dispute with Ley.

Zoe McKenzie, a Liberal moderate rising star, will add shadow cabinet secretary to her responsibilities. Phil Thompson, shadow assistant minister for defence, has been named deputy chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, a position previously held by Wallace.