Cheung Kong Infrastructure - Claim, evidence and resolution documentation (2013-2015)
Dan Monceaux made this Freedom of Information request to Australian Taxation Office
This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.
Dear Australian Taxation Office FoI Officers,
I am writing to request copies of all documentation related to the claim made in 2013 by the ATO against Cheung Kong Infrastructure regarding unpaid taxes, fines and interest associated with the business activities of SA Power Networks.
Such documentation should include (but not be limited to: the claim itself, relevant substantiating evidence, the agreement subsequently entered into between CKI and the ATO, and the resolution ultimately reached in 2015.
PUBLIC INTEREST CASE FOR A FEE WAIVER/REDUCTION
I am also writing to request a fee reduction or waiver, owing to the public interest nature of this request. The future management of electricity supply in South Australia has been a topic of intense public discussion and debate at State and Federal levels, stimulated by the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission in 2015-16 and more recently by blackouts and load-shedding events this summer, and loss of transmission infrastructure during storm events.
Examining the business conduct of the sole operator of South Australia's electricity distribution network (SA Power Networks) and its parent company (CKI) are critical to these discussions. It is equally critical in the national context, owing to CKI's ownership of Victoria Power Networks (though their operations lie beyond the scope of this request) and the present uncertainty surrounding the future of the national electricity market. This matter is being currently considered by the Independent Review into the Future Security of the National Electricity Market, headed by Dr Alan Finkel.
I am making this request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
Dear Mr Monceaux,
The ATO does not process FOI requests received via righttoknow.org.au.
Please send your FOI request direct to [1][ATO request email], or lodge via
paper form available at
[2]https://www.ato.gov.au/uploadedFiles/Con....
Alternatively, you can contact the ATO on 13 28 69 and ask for Freedom of
Information.
Regards,
FOI team
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Ben Fairless left an annotation ()
The Information Commissioner has made a formal recommendation to the ATO to start processing to Freedom of Information requests made via Right to Know. More Information on this can be found here: https://www.openaustraliafoundation.org....
Locutus Sum left an annotation ()
My comment is an addition to the comments by Mr. Fairless. I also make a specific suggestion.
Although the Australian Taxation Office wrote to the applicant to say that the Office would not process the application, something did happen. The thing that happened was that 30 days after the date when the application was lodged, section 15AC(3) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) had the effect of making a "deemed decision" to refuse the request ... this is unless the Commissioner grants more time.
Because of the effect of the Act, I make the following suggestions to the applicant:
(1) Do not write to the Australian Taxation Office and complain that a decision on your request is "overdue". It is not. A deemed decision was made 30 days after you lodged the application.
(2) Instead, use this Right to Know page (or you can create a new request page) to write exactly the same request to the Australian Taxation Office. If you want to grumble, then you can always say (in the new request email) that you made the same request earlier on this-and-then date.
I make this suggestion because if you only write and complain that your request is "overdue", then after a delay, the Australian Taxation Office might (correctly) write back to you and say, "No it is not". Of course, the purpose of this would be to delay to process your request (because the office will now have suddenly a lot of requests) but it will still have the effect that you must lodge a new request. Therefore, you can lose nothing to use this Right to Know page to make a new request now! It will start the clock again.
Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()
As directed by the ATO's FoI officers, I have sent the same request to them by alternative means. I will update this request as I receive responses outside of RightToKnow.org.au.