A Case Study for the Royal Commission - Scott Morrison MP
Phillip Sweeney made this Freedom of Information request to Australian Federal Police
This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.
Dear Australian Federal Police,
Royal Commissioner Hayne will see his legacy as the Royal Commissioner in extensive law reform to be recommended in his report.
This Freedom of Information Request forms part of a Case Study on dealing with serious white-collar crime.
There is a simple law reform that I will be including in my submission to the Royal Commission for consideration by the Royal Commissioner that I believe could dramatically reduce white-collar crime in the banking, superannuation and financial services industries.
Members of Parliament and Senators such as The Treasurer, the Hon Scott Morrison MP, are keen to encourage Whistleblowers to come forward on a voluntary basis, even though the general history of whistleblowers is to be ignored and vilified by the “Regulators”, to find yourself unemployable , to discover so called “Whistleblower Protection Laws” are not worth the paper they are written on and promises of any compensation are just a cynical con by politicians.
To add insult to injury the white-collar criminals will generally also escape any serious punishment if they are punished at all.
Very few people are foolish enough to voluntarily destroy their own and their family’s lives when Australia is a ‘paradise’ for white-collar criminals as confirmed by the previous Chairman of ASIC.
My recommendation to Royal Commissioner Hayne is that a provision similar to Section 316 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) be included in Commonwealth legislation that places a positive duty of employees, consultants and members of the public to report actual and suspected serious white-collar crime in the banking, superannuation and financial services industries to the appropriate authorities who must then investigate the allegations - no 'discretion' allowed to 'do a friend a favour' and claim that there is 'insufficient evidence' when no investigation has been undertaken in the first place .
An important question is what penalty should be imposed for failing to report knowledge of an actual or suspected serious white-collar crime to the relevant authorities.
The maximum penalty for contravening Section 316 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) is two years imprisonment – however is this penalty sufficient?
The Treasurer is a Member of Parliament from New South Wales and the Treasurer has in his possession two Deeds of Variation for an occupational pension scheme established by a Trust Deed dated 23 December 1913 that confirm the entitlement of the widows of qualifying male fund members to receive a survivorship pension.
This Defined Benefit occupational pension scheme was closed to new members on 30 November 1997 so there will be widows alive until around 2050-2060 entitled to be paid these benefits by a corporate Trustee owned by the National Australia Bank (NAB).
The NAB refuses to follow the advice of Hayne JJ and his fellow High Court Justices and seek judicial advice on these Deeds of Variation that were criminally concealed from the Regulator – APRA in order to obtain fund registration.
The Chairman of NAB, Dr Ken Henry, has been asked several times to ensure that the advice of Hayne JJ is followed by the NAB Trustee. However not such advice has been sought in an Australian Court where the fund members would have a representative present.
The Treasurer, the Hon Scott Morrison MP, now has a positive duty to provide copies of these Deeds of Variation and other related information concerning this fraud against around 150 widows to the Australian Federal Police which administers the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).
Superannuation is COMPULSORY in Australia and is regulated by Commonwealth Laws.
A compensation scheme exists which should ensure that these widows receive at least 90% compensation if the National Australia Bank refuses to pay their survivorship pensions.
The document I seek is a copy of the covering letter from The Treasurer to the Australian Federal Police providing copies of these Deeds of Variation and any other information to the Australian Federal Police.
If the Treasurer has complied with his statutory duty, then this would indicate that a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment is sufficient to ensure “compulsory whistleblowing” with respect to serious white-collar crimes.
If the Treasurer has instead contravened Section 316 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) this would indicate that a maximum penalty of two years is not adequate to ensure “compulsory whistleblowing” with respect to serious white-collar crimes.
Yours faithfully,
Phillip Sweeney
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Dear FOI,
A response from the Australian Federal Police as to whether the Hon Scott Morrison MP a Member of Parliament from New South Wales has complied with the Treasurer's statutory duty pursuant to s316 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) is now due. Can the Australian Federal Police please expedite this response.
Yours sincerely,
Phillip Sweeney
Thank you for your email.
Please note that this is an automated response to confirm that your email was sent to the Australian Federal Police Freedom of Information (FOI) inbox.
This FOI inbox is monitored between 8am and 4pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays and the period from 27-31 December.
If you wish to lodge a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), please ensure that your request is in writing, states that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act and provides sufficient detail describing the documents you wish to access.
If you are requesting personal information about yourself then please ensure you enclose a copy of your photographic identification.
Further details on how to make a valid FOI request can be found on the Australian Federal Police’s website at: http://www.afp.gov.au/about-the-afp/foi-...
The Australian Federal Police will acknowledge your request in accordance with the legislative requirements of the Act.
The FOI Team can be contacted on 02 6131 6131
Dear FOI,
The Royal Commission will be investigating Superannuation next month and I wish to make a submission as to whether the Treasurer has complies with his statutory duty pursuant to s316 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW).
Can you please expedite a response to this FIO request which is now overdue.
Yours sincerely,
Phillip Sweeney
Thank you for your email.
Please note that this is an automated response to confirm that your email was sent to the Australian Federal Police Freedom of Information (FOI) inbox.
This FOI inbox is monitored between 8am and 4pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays and the period from 27-31 December.
If you wish to lodge a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), please ensure that your request is in writing, states that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act and provides sufficient detail describing the documents you wish to access.
If you are requesting personal information about yourself then please ensure you enclose a copy of your photographic identification.
Further details on how to make a valid FOI request can be found on the Australian Federal Police’s website at: http://www.afp.gov.au/about-the-afp/foi-...
The Australian Federal Police will acknowledge your request in accordance with the legislative requirements of the Act.
The FOI Team can be contacted on 02 6131 6131
Dear Australian Federal Police,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Australian Federal Police's handling of my FOI request 'A Case Study for the Royal Commission - Scott Morrison MP'.
It is clearly a matter of public interest as to whether the Treasurer, the Hon Scott Morrisom MP, has complied with an important law of the State of New South Wales.
I am therefore requesting an Internal Review of this FOI request.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/a...
Yours faithfully,
Phillip Sweeney
Thank you for your email.
Please note that this is an automated response to confirm that your email was sent to the Australian Federal Police Freedom of Information (FOI) inbox.
This FOI inbox is monitored between 8am and 4pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays and the period from 27-31 December.
If you wish to lodge a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), please ensure that your request is in writing, states that it is an application for the purposes of the FOI Act and provides sufficient detail describing the documents you wish to access.
If you are requesting personal information about yourself then please ensure you enclose a copy of your photographic identification.
Further details on how to make a valid FOI request can be found on the Australian Federal Police’s website at: http://www.afp.gov.au/about-the-afp/foi-...
The Australian Federal Police will acknowledge your request in accordance with the legislative requirements of the Act.
The FOI Team can be contacted on 02 6131 6131
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Sweeney,
YOUR FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST
I refer to your application dated 8 June 2018 in which you seek access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the Act) as follows:
"The document I seek is a copy of the covering letter from The Treasurer to the Australian Federal Police providing copies of these Deeds of Variation and any other information to the Australian Federal Police.
If the Treasurer has complied with his statutory duty, then this would indicate that a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment is sufficient to ensure “compulsory whistleblowing” with respect to serious white-collar crimes."
Information considered irrelevant to the scope of your request
The AFP, in its management of FOI requests, excludes the following information on the basis that is irrelevant to the scope of a request:
- Names of AFP members, other than the Senior Executive.
- Direct telephone numbers, signatures and mobile telephone numbers of AFP members.
- Duplicate documents, including duplicate emails. The AFP will only provide emails where they form a final email chain and the authors/recipients are contained within the final email.
- Information that is publicly available, for example, newspaper articles, online publications including information available on the AFP Information Publication Scheme and the AFP disclosure log.
If you object to the AFP excluding any of the above information, please advise this office within seven days of receipt of this letter.
In addition, should the AFP be required to consult with third parties in accordance with the sections 26A (Commonwealth/State information), 27 (business affairs) and 27A (personal information) of the Act, do you have any objections to those parties/organisations knowing your identity for the purposes of the consultation? If we do not receive your consent or do not receive a response, we will not disclosure your identity to third parties.
Your request was received by this agency on 8 June 2018, and the 30 day statutory period for processing your request commenced from that date.
You will be notified of any charges in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Fees and Charges) Regulations, should they apply, in relation to your request as soon as practicable.
Disclosure Log
Please be advised that in accordance with section 11C of the Act, an agency is required to publish information on their website following the notification of a decision in respect of a freedom of information request.
The requirement to publish information released under FOI reinforces the objectives of the FOI Act to promote a pro-disclosure culture across government and to increase recognition that information held by government is a national resource. Exceptions to the requirement to publish information would apply to personal information and information concerning the business affairs of a person if it was considered ‘unreasonable’ to do so. Details of the decision may be published in a Disclosure Log which can be found at https://www.afp.gov.au/about-us/informat.... Publication will be made in accordance with timeframes stipulated in section 11C of the Act.
If, however, after noting the above, you wish to raise any concerns about the publication of information concerning your request prior to the notification of a decision, please advise this office in writing before 31 July 2018. If you do not raise any concerns prior to the date of the decision, the AFP will publish the information as notified to you in the decision.
Yours sincerely
ANA (AFP 20542)
FOI OFFICER, FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
CHIEF COUNSEL
AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE
Tel +61(0) 2 61316131
www.afp.gov.au
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Sweeney
As a decision has not been made in relation to this request it is therefore not possible to seek an internal review. You may seek a review by the Office of the Information Commissioner as the request is now deemed refused.
However, we continue processing your request and will endeavour to provide you with a decision within the next 2-3 weeks.
We apologise for the delay and any inconvenience caused.
Regards
JACQUELINE (AFP12306)
PRINCIPAL FOI OFFICER/TEAM LEADER, FREEDOM OF INFORMATION CHIEF COUNSEL AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE
Tel +61(0) 2 6131 6131
www.afp.gov.au
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Sweeney,
Please find attached our decision letter in relation to your request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries.
Kind Regards,
AFP23006
FOI OFFICER
CHIEF COUNSEL PORTFOLIO
Tel +61(02) 6131 6131
www.afp.gov.au
UNCLASSIFIED
Verity Pane left an annotation ()
The AFP is correct that, where it has failed to provide a decision notice before the expiry of the s 15(5)(b) deadline, and it has still not made a decision notice, it is not possible for an internal review to be sought.
This is because a deemed refusal is determined to be made by the principal officer of the agency (the Secretary or equivalent), so the agency doesn’t have anyone eligible to make an internal review (as the review must be carried out by someone of the same or higher employment level).
However, if the deemed refusal request receives an actual decision notice, then that no longer applies.
As a result, you are currently entitled to seek internal review of the access refusal decision of 26 September 2018, but your deadline to apply runs out soon.
After that, you have the slightly longer opportunity to apply for IC Review to the OAIC.