(1) In the conduct of an external review, the information commissioner has, in addition to any other power, power to—
(a) review any decision that has been made by an agency or Minister in relation to the access application concerned; and
(b) decide any matter in relation to the access application that could, under this Act, have been decided by an agency or Minister.
(2) If it is established that a document is an exempt document or a contrary to public interest document, or contains exempt information or contrary to public interest information, the commissioner does not have power to direct that access to the document, or the document to the extent of the information, is to be given.
(3) Any decision of the commissioner under this section has the same effect as a decision of the agency or Minister.