Documents relating to Senate Order 330
Brendan Molloy made this Freedom of Information request to Special Minister of State
This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.
Dear Special Minister of State,
I hereby request, under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, copies of all official documents of the Minister relating to or considered when responding to Senate Order 330 (10 July 2014) except:
a) copies of the order or motion;
b) the letter from the Clerk of the Senate dated 10 July 2014 regarding the order;
c) the letter from the Minister to the Clerk of the Senate dated 10 July 2014 (as tabled); or
d) duplicate copies of other documents within the scope of the request.
I also make the application that all costs for the processing of this request be waived on the grounds that the release of this information is in the public interest, and will enhance the transparency of the process and the public debate surrounding the software that underpins our democracy.
--
Regards,
Brendan Molloy
President
Pirate Party Australia
Thank you for your email to the Freedom of Information section of the
Department of Finance. We have received your email and will endeavour to
respond to you as soon as possible.
You may view further information relating to Freedom of Information on the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s [1]website.
[2]Signature blocks-blue bar.jpg
Freedom of Information
Legal and Strategic Support Branch
Department of Finance
________________________________
Finance Australian Business Number (ABN): 61 970 632 495
Finance Web Site: www.finance.gov.au
IMPORTANT:
This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited.
If you have received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by telephone on 61-2-6215-2222 and delete all copies of this transmission together with any attachments.
If responding to this email, please send to the appropriate person using the suffix .gov.au.
________________________________
References
Visible links
1. http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_...
Dear FOI Requests,
Is this request currently being processed?
--
Regards,
Brendan Molloy
President
Pirate Party Australia
UNCLASSIFIED
Hi Brendan
According to our records we have no current FOI request from you. If you think you have a current request with the Department, please provide me with our FOI ref number and I'll check our records again.
Regards,
Chak
-----Original Message-----
From: Brendan Molloy [mailto:[FOI #755 email]]
Sent: Sunday, 21 September 2014 12:53 PM
To: FOI Requests
Subject: Re: Thank you for your email: Freedom of Information [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Dear FOI Requests,
Is this request currently being processed?
--
Regards,
Brendan Molloy
President
Pirate Party Australia
-----Original Message-----
Thank you for your email to the Freedom of Information section of the Department of Finance. We have received your email and will endeavour to respond to you as soon as possible.
You may view further information relating to Freedom of Information on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s [1]website.
[2]Signature blocks-blue bar.jpg
Freedom of Information
Legal and Strategic Support Branch
Department of Finance
References
Visible links
1. http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_...
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #755 email]
Write your response as plain text. Only send PDF documents as a last resort. Government guidelines make it clear that PDF is not an acceptable format for you to use in the delivery of government information.
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
This request is being made by an individual using the Right to Know website. The unique email address provided by the service for this request satisfies s.15(2)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act.
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
UNCLASSIFIED
________________________________
Finance Australian Business Number (ABN): 61 970 632 495
Finance Web Site: www.finance.gov.au
IMPORTANT:
This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited.
If you have received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by telephone on 61-2-6215-2222 and delete all copies of this transmission together with any attachments.
If responding to this email, please send to the appropriate person using the suffix .gov.au.
________________________________
Dear Chak,
This is surely an error. I received an acknowledgement email from your department stating that it had been received.
You can clearly see the reply, dated August 29, 2014, on the following webpage: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/d...
It literally says "we have received your email" in the first paragraph.
--
Regards,
Brendan Molloy
President
Pirate Party Australia
UNCLASSIFIED
Hi Brendan
I think that was an FOI to the Special Minister of State. We have referred the FOI to the Minister and his office will make a decision on this FOI. It is currently being processed.
The initial due date for this FOI is 30 October 2014.
Regards,
Chak
-----Original Message-----
From: Brendan Molloy [mailto:[FOI #755 email]]
Sent: Monday, 22 September 2014 4:08 PM
To: FOI Requests
Subject: RE: Thank you for your email: Freedom of Information [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Dear Chak,
This is surely an error. I received an acknowledgement email from your department stating that it had been received.
You can clearly see the reply, dated August 29, 2014, on the following webpage: https://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/d...
It literally says "we have received your email" in the first paragraph.
--
Regards,
Brendan Molloy
President
Pirate Party Australia
-----Original Message-----
UNCLASSIFIED
Hi Brendan
According to our records we have no current FOI request from you. If you think you have a current request with the Department, please provide me with our FOI ref number and I'll check our records again.
Regards,
Chak
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #755 email]
Write your response as plain text. Only send PDF documents as a last resort. Government guidelines make it clear that PDF is not an acceptable format for you to use in the delivery of government information.
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
This request is being made by an individual using the Right to Know website. The unique email address provided by the service for this request satisfies s.15(2)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act.
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
UNCLASSIFIED
________________________________
Finance Australian Business Number (ABN): 61 970 632 495
Finance Web Site: www.finance.gov.au
IMPORTANT:
This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited.
If you have received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by telephone on 61-2-6215-2222 and delete all copies of this transmission together with any attachments.
If responding to this email, please send to the appropriate person using the suffix .gov.au.
________________________________
Dear Chak,
The FOI Act is quite clear that the clock starts ticking a day after the agency receives a request, which would have been August 30. This means that the deadline should be September 29, not October 30, given I have received a written response from your department confirming receipt of the request.
This October deadline is entirely unacceptable given the request was sent on August 29. As the Department responsible for accepting requests on behalf of the Special Minister of State, and as there are no other contact details provided other than a link to the Department of Finance, I see no excuse for this failure of process.
I would also note that your department is listed as the responsible agency for accepting FOI requests on behalf of the Special Minister of State according to Appendix 4 of the OAIC's Annual Report 2012-2013, and while it claims to not be authoritative, it reflects the fact that I was unable to find any other way to make an FOI request to the SMOS:
http://www.oaic.gov.au/images/documents/...
Why should I now have to be penalised for the mishandling of my request by your Department?
--
Regards,
Brendan Molloy
President
Pirate Party Australia
UNCLASSIFIED
Hi Brendan
'30 October' was a typo. 30 September is the due date. I apologise for that.
29 September is a public holiday in the ACT, so the due date is 30 September. I hope this clears it up.
Regards,
Chak
-----Original Message-----
From: Brendan Molloy [mailto:[FOI #755 email]]
Sent: Monday, 22 September 2014 4:33 PM
To: FOI Requests
Subject: RE: Thank you for your email: Freedom of Information [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Dear Chak,
The FOI Act is quite clear that the clock starts ticking a day after the agency receives a request, which would have been August 30. This means that the deadline should be September 29, not October 30, given I have received a written response from your department confirming receipt of the request.
This October deadline is entirely unacceptable given the request was sent on August 29. As the Department responsible for accepting requests on behalf of the Special Minister of State, and as there are no other contact details provided other than a link to the Department of Finance, I see no excuse for this failure of process.
I would also note that your department is listed as the responsible agency for accepting FOI requests on behalf of the Special Minister of State according to Appendix 4 of the OAIC's Annual Report 2012-2013, and while it claims to not be authoritative, it reflects the fact that I was unable to find any other way to make an FOI request to the SMOS:
http://www.oaic.gov.au/images/documents/...
Why should I now have to be penalised for the mishandling of my request by your Department?
--
Regards,
Brendan Molloy
President
Pirate Party Australia
-----Original Message-----
UNCLASSIFIED
Hi Brendan
I think that was an FOI to the Special Minister of State. We have referred the FOI to the Minister and his office will make a decision on this FOI. It is currently being processed.
The initial due date for this FOI is 30 October 2014.
Regards,
Chak
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #755 email]
Write your response as plain text. Only send PDF documents as a last resort. Government guidelines make it clear that PDF is not an acceptable format for you to use in the delivery of government information.
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
This request is being made by an individual using the Right to Know website. The unique email address provided by the service for this request satisfies s.15(2)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act.
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
UNCLASSIFIED
________________________________
Finance Australian Business Number (ABN): 61 970 632 495
Finance Web Site: www.finance.gov.au
IMPORTANT:
This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited.
If you have received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by telephone on 61-2-6215-2222 and delete all copies of this transmission together with any attachments.
If responding to this email, please send to the appropriate person using the suffix .gov.au.
________________________________
Dear Chak,
Thank you for the clarification.
I had just completed preparing an email to the OAIC to seek advice on the sudden addition of 30 days to the processing period. I was just about to hit send when your email hit my inbox. :)
--
Regards,
Brendan Molloy
President
Pirate Party Australia
UNCLASSIFIED
Hi Brendan
In future, if you are asking questions about your FOIs to the Minister, please specify that the FOI was to the Minister in your email.
It would make it easier for me to find the information for you.
Regards,
Chak
-----Original Message-----
From: Brendan Molloy [mailto:[FOI #755 email]]
Sent: Monday, 22 September 2014 4:41 PM
To: FOI Requests
Subject: RE: Thank you for your email: Freedom of Information [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Dear Chak,
Thank you for the clarification.
I had just completed preparing an email to the OAIC to seek advice on the sudden addition of 30 days to the processing period. I was just about to hit send when your email hit my inbox. :)
--
Regards,
Brendan Molloy
President
Pirate Party Australia
-----Original Message-----
UNCLASSIFIED
Hi Brendan
'30 October' was a typo. 30 September is the due date. I apologise for that.
29 September is a public holiday in the ACT, so the due date is 30 September. I hope this clears it up.
Regards,
Chak
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #755 email]
Write your response as plain text. Only send PDF documents as a last resort. Government guidelines make it clear that PDF is not an acceptable format for you to use in the delivery of government information.
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
This request is being made by an individual using the Right to Know website. The unique email address provided by the service for this request satisfies s.15(2)(c) of the Freedom of Information Act.
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
UNCLASSIFIED
________________________________
Finance Australian Business Number (ABN): 61 970 632 495
Finance Web Site: www.finance.gov.au
IMPORTANT:
This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited.
If you have received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by telephone on 61-2-6215-2222 and delete all copies of this transmission together with any attachments.
If responding to this email, please send to the appropriate person using the suffix .gov.au.
________________________________
UNCLASSIFIED
Hi Brendan
Please see attached correspondence.
Regards,
Chak
[1]Signature blocks-blue bar.jpg
FOI Officer
Corporate Services Division | Legal Services Branch
Department of Finance
T: 02 6215 1783 | E: [2][Special Minister of State request email]
UNCLASSIFIED
________________________________
Finance Australian Business Number (ABN): 61 970 632 495
Finance Web Site: www.finance.gov.au
IMPORTANT:
This transmission is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited.
If you have received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by telephone on 61-2-6215-2222 and delete all copies of this transmission together with any attachments.
If responding to this email, please send to the appropriate person using the suffix .gov.au.
________________________________
References
Visible links
2. mailto:[Special Minister of State request email]
Daniel O'Connor left an annotation ()
This is pretty odd; the original foi request and the link sent to this rtk page clearly indicate the specific content and what it refers to: official documents of the minister.
There seem to be some very crossed wires...