documents relating to Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Ministerial meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, USA on Sep.-Oct. 2015
Dear Hon. Julie Bishop, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
I request that a copy of documents and records including but not limited to the following information about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Ministerial meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, USA be provided to me: attendees, agendas, talking points, talk slides, budgets, and cost line items from 30 September 2015 to 1 October 2015.
I would prefer the request filled electronically, by email attachment if available, or with CD-ROM by post if not.
I request a waiver of all fees in connections with this FOI Act request. Disclosure of the requested information to me is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in my commercial interest. The University of California, Santa Cruz, Science Communication Program is a professional journalism training program that regularly publishes articles based on information acquired through FOI Act requests.
Because of the widespread public and media interest in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and because I am primarily engaged in disseminating information, I believe this request meets the criteria for expedited processing.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Yours faithfully,
Ramin Skibba
University of California, Santa Cruz
Science Communication Program
1156 High Street
Santa Cruz 95064, USA
+1-520-306-8158
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Skibba,
Thank you for your below request.
I would be grateful if you could clarify whether the scope of your request is for documents created between 30 September and 1 October relating to the TPP meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, or whether your request is for documents relating to the TPP meeting which was held between 30 September and 1 October.
Yours sincerely,
DFAT FOI Team.
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Skibba,
Please note that without further clarification on the scope of your request, it does not fulfil the requirements of section 15(2)(b) of the FOI Act as we currently cannot identify the documents which you are seeking.
Yours sincerely,
DFAT FOI Team
Dear FOI,
Thank you for your reply and for your assistance with this FOI request.
I am requesting documents that negotiators, officials or representatives of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade might possess. Those that attended or participated in the TPP meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, USA are likely to have a list of meeting participants, meeting program, discussion talking points, slides from presentations (such as in PDF or Powerpoint format), and budget estimates or economic assessments.
For example, likely presentations and discussions involving intellectual property rights, pharmaceuticals, agricultural tariffs, currency policies, and export markets took place.
Australia's Minister for Trade and Investment, Hon. Andrew Robb, participated in the TPP meeting. His office should have many records involving the TPP and this meeting in particular.
I hope that this is sufficient clarification to help you identify the correct documents, but if you have additional questions, please contact me. Thank you for your help.
Yours sincerely,
Ramin Skibba
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Skibba,
Thank you for your below e-mail. Could you please confirm that you are requesting all documents relating to the TPP meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.
Please note that Ministers' Offices are separate entities to Departments under FOI. However, as the Department would hold copies all documents which were provided to Minister Robb, we do not propose transferring this element of your request to his Office.
Yours sincerely,
DFAT FOI Team
Dear FOI Team,
Thank you for your reply.
Yes, I am confirming that I am requesting all documents relating to the TPP meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.
Yours sincerely,
Ramin Skibba
UNCLASSIFIED
Our Ref: 1601-F1360
Dear Mr Skibba
Re: Freedom of Information (FOI) Request
Thank you for your email below in which you confirm that you are seeking
access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 to:
All documents relating to the TPP meeting in Atlanta Georgia.
Searches are now being undertaken in relevant areas of the Department for
documents relevant to your request. I will contact you again once the
searches have been completed.
Timeframe for receiving your decision:
We received your request on 11 January and the 30 day statutory period for
processing your request commenced from the day after that date. You
should therefore expect a decision from us by 11 February. The period of
30 days may be extended in certain circumstances. We will advise you if
there is any extension of time.
Scope of request:
If it emerges that the scope of your request is unclear or is too large
for processing, the Department will contact you to discuss re-scoping the
request.
Exclusion of officials’ names and contact details:
It is the Department’s policy to withhold the mobile numbers of all
government officials, and the names and contact details of government
officials not in the Senior Executive Service (SES). If you require the
mobile numbers of all government officials, or the names and contact
details of non-SES officials, please let us know at [1][DFAT request email] so
the decision-maker may consider; otherwise we will take it that you agree
to that information being excluded from the scope of your request.
Charges:
Please note that the Department issues charges for processing FOI
requests. We will advise you of these charges when we are in a position
to estimate the resources required to process your request.
Timing of release:
As the subject matter of your request will require DFAT to upload any
documents released to you to the Department’s FOI Disclosure Log, I take
this opportunity to advise you that the Department’s policy is to upload
documents to the disclosure log on the same day as the documents are
released to you.
Personal Information:
Your personal information has been collected by the Department as a result
of your correspondence, and will be used in order to process your FOI
request. Your personal information is protected by law, including the
Privacy Act 1988. The Department’s privacy policy is available at
[2]dfat.gov.au/privacy.html and contains information about access to or
correction of your personal information, and how you may complain about a
breach of your privacy.
Please note that if we need to consult with other people regarding release
of the documents you have requested, we may need to disclose your personal
information. When we consult with other people about a request you have
made, it may be apparent to those people that you have made a request,
even if we do not disclose your identity. If you have concerns about the
Department consulting with other people about your request, please let us
know your concerns.
Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to
contact me on (02) 6261 3470, or by return email.
Please note a copy of this email has been sent to Marie-Charlotte McKenna,
Director, Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section, for her
information.
Yours sincerely
Ada Cheung
Assistant Director
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Freedom of Information & Privacy Law E |
Section [3][email address]
Corporate Legal Branch T | +61 2 6261 3470
Legal Division W | [4]www.dfat.gov.au
UNCLASSIFIED
FOI Ref: 1601-F1360
Dear Mr Skibba,
Re: Freedom of Information (FOI) Request
Thank you for your e-mail of 11 January, seeking access under the Freedom
of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) to:
All documents relating to the TPP meeting in Atlanta Georgia.
Practical refusal reason
Notice is hereby given under section 24AB(2) of the FOI Act of an
intention to refuse to grant access to the documents sought. The
practical refusal reason is that the work involved in processing the
request would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of DFAT
from its other operations.
In deciding that this practical refusal reason exists, I have given
consideration to how DFAT could proceed to process your request, and the
time and resources that would be involved in doing so.
Two sub-folders alone of documents held by the relevant line area have
captured 90 documents with over 600 pages of attachments.
I am therefore of the opinion that processing your request in its current
form would be a substantial and unreasonable diversion of DFAT’s resources
within the meaning of section 24AA(1).
Consultation process
In accordance with section 24AB(2)(e), the consultation period during
which you may consult with me to revise the scope of your request is 14
days after the day you are given this notice. Please note that if you do
not take this opportunity to consult, in accordance with section
24AB(7)(a), your request will be taken to have been withdrawn under
section 24AB(6).
You may wish to narrow your request to documents relating to one specific
area of the TPP negotiations.
I am the DFAT officer with whom you may consult if you wish to revise the
request to a narrower scope such that it could in fact be processed. I may
be contacted by email at: [1][DFAT request email] and I am happy to take any
reasonable steps provide you, so far as is reasonably practicable, with
any information that I can to assist you in amending your request under
the FOI Act.
Please note that during this period of consultation, the statutory
timeframe under section 15(5) of the FOI Act for the processing of your
request is on hold (see section 24AB(8) for details).
I have included below a copy of sections 24, 24AA and 24AB of the FOI Act
for your information.
Yours sincerely,
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Marie-Charlotte McKenna | |
| | |
|Director, Legal | |
|Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade | |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|FOI and Privacy Law Section |T | +61 2 6261 1111 |
|-----------------------------------------+------------------------------|
|Corporate Legal Branch |W| [2]www.dfat.gov.au |
|-----------------------------------------+------------------------------|
|Legal Division | |
|-----------------------------------------+------------------------------|
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Please note that I work on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursday and Fridays.
This email and any attachments may contain confidential information or
legal advice over which legal professional privilege can be claimed. Such
privilege is not waived and you should ensure that, in your handling of
the advice, you avoid waiving privilege. Please consult the author of the
advice if unsure about appropriate handling.
Attachment A
24 Power to refuse request—diversion of resources etc.
(1) If an agency or Minister is satisfied, when dealing with
a request for a document, that a practical refusal reason exists in
relation to the request (see section 24AA), the agency or Minister:
(a) must undertake a request consultation process
(see section 24AB); and
(b) if, after the request consultation process, the
agency or Minister is satisfied that the practical refusal reason still
exists—the agency or Minister may refuse to give access to the document in
accordance with the request.
(2) For the purposes of this section, the agency or Minister
may treat 2 or more requests as a single request if the agency or Minister
is satisfied that:
(a) the requests relate to the same document or
documents; or
(b) the requests relate to documents, the subject
matter of which is substantially the same.
24AA When does a practical refusal reason exist?
(1) For the purposes of section 24, a practical refusal
reason exists in relation to a request for a document if either (or both)
of the following applies:
(a) the work involved in processing the request:
(i) in the case of an agency—would
substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the agency from its
other operations; or
(ii) in the case of a Minister—would
substantially and unreasonably interfere with the performance of the
Minister’s functions;
(b) the request does not satisfy the requirement in
paragraph 15(2)(b) (identification of documents).
(2) Subject to subsection (3), but without limiting the
matters to which the agency or Minister may have regard, in deciding
whether a practical refusal reason exists, the agency or Minister must
have regard to the resources that would have to be used for the following:
(a) identifying, locating or collating the
documents within the filing system of the agency, or the office of the
Minister;
(b) deciding whether to grant, refuse or defer
access to a document to which the request relates, or to grant access to
an edited copy of such a document, including resources that would have to
be used for:
(i) examining the document; or
(ii) consulting with any person or body in
relation to the request;
(c) making a copy, or an edited copy, of the
document;
(d) notifying any interim or final decision on the
request.
(3) In deciding whether a practical refusal reason exists, an
agency or Minister must not have regard to:
(a) any reasons that the applicant gives for
requesting access; or
(b) the agency’s or Minister’s belief as to what the
applicant’s reasons are for requesting access; or
(c) any maximum amount, specified in the
regulations, payable as a charge for processing a request of that kind.
24AB What is a request consultation process?
Scope
(1) This section sets out what is a request consultation
process for the purposes of section 24.
Requirement to notify
(2) The agency or Minister must give the applicant a written
notice stating the following:
(a) an intention to refuse access to a document in
accordance with a request;
(b) the practical refusal reason;
(c) the name of an officer of the agency or member
of staff of the Minister (the contact person) with whom the applicant may
consult during a period;
(d) details of how the applicant may contact the
contact person;
(e) that the period (the consultation period)
during which the applicant may consult with the contact person is 14 days
after the day the applicant is given the notice.
Assistance to revise request
(3) If the applicant contacts the contact person during the
consultation period in accordance with the notice, the agency or Minister
must take reasonable steps to assist the applicant to revise the request
so that the practical refusal reason no longer exists.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), reasonable steps
includes the following:
(a) giving the applicant a reasonable opportunity
to consult with the contact person;
(b) providing the applicant with any information
that would assist the applicant to revise the request.
Extension of consultation period
(5) The contact person may, with the applicant’s agreement,
extend the consultation period by written notice to the applicant.
Outcome of request consultation process
(6) The applicant must, before the end of the consultation
period, do one of the following, by written notice to the agency or
Minister:
(a) withdraw the request;
(b) make a revised request;
(c) indicate that the applicant does not wish to
revise the request.
(7) The request is taken to have been withdrawn under
subsection (6) at the end of the consultation period if:
(a) the applicant does not consult the contact
person during the consultation period in accordance with the notice; or
(b) the applicant does not do one of the things
mentioned in subsection (6) before the end of the consultation period.
Consultation period to be disregarded in calculating processing period
(8) The period starting on the day an applicant is given a
notice under subsection (2) and ending on the day the applicant does one
of the things mentioned in paragraph (6)(b) or (c) is to be disregarded in
working out the 30 day period mentioned in paragraph 15(5)(b).
Note: Paragraph 15(5)(b) requires that an agency or Minister take
all reasonable steps to notify an applicant of a decision on the
applicant’s request within 30 days after the request is made.
No more than one request consultation process required
(9) To avoid doubt, this section only obliges the agency or
Minister to undertake a request consultation process once for any
particular request.
From: Cheung, Ada On Behalf Of FOI
Sent: Monday, 11 January 2016 4:23 PM
To: 'Ramin Skibba'
Cc: Mckenna, Marie-Charlotte
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - documents relating to
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Ministerial meeting in Atlanta, Georgia,
USA on Sep.-Oct. 2015 [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
UNCLASSIFIED
Our Ref: 1601-F1360
Dear Mr Skibba
Re: Freedom of Information (FOI) Request
Thank you for your email below in which you confirm that you are seeking
access under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 to:
All documents relating to the TPP meeting in Atlanta Georgia.
Searches are now being undertaken in relevant areas of the Department for
documents relevant to your request. I will contact you again once the
searches have been completed.
Timeframe for receiving your decision:
We received your request on 11 January and the 30 day statutory period for
processing your request commenced from the day after that date. You
should therefore expect a decision from us by 11 February. The period of
30 days may be extended in certain circumstances. We will advise you if
there is any extension of time.
Scope of request:
If it emerges that the scope of your request is unclear or is too large
for processing, the Department will contact you to discuss re-scoping the
request.
Exclusion of officials’ names and contact details:
It is the Department’s policy to withhold the mobile numbers of all
government officials, and the names and contact details of government
officials not in the Senior Executive Service (SES). If you require the
mobile numbers of all government officials, or the names and contact
details of non-SES officials, please let us know at [3][DFAT request email] so
the decision-maker may consider; otherwise we will take it that you agree
to that information being excluded from the scope of your request.
Charges:
Please note that the Department issues charges for processing FOI
requests. We will advise you of these charges when we are in a position
to estimate the resources required to process your request.
Timing of release:
As the subject matter of your request will require DFAT to upload any
documents released to you to the Department’s FOI Disclosure Log, I take
this opportunity to advise you that the Department’s policy is to upload
documents to the disclosure log on the same day as the documents are
released to you.
Personal Information:
Your personal information has been collected by the Department as a result
of your correspondence, and will be used in order to process your FOI
request. Your personal information is protected by law, including the
Privacy Act 1988. The Department’s privacy policy is available at
[4]dfat.gov.au/privacy.html and contains information about access to or
correction of your personal information, and how you may complain about a
breach of your privacy.
Please note that if we need to consult with other people regarding release
of the documents you have requested, we may need to disclose your personal
information. When we consult with other people about a request you have
made, it may be apparent to those people that you have made a request,
even if we do not disclose your identity. If you have concerns about the
Department consulting with other people about your request, please let us
know your concerns.
Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to
contact me on (02) 6261 3470, or by return email.
Please note a copy of this email has been sent to Marie-Charlotte McKenna,
Director, Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section, for her
information.
Yours sincerely
Ada Cheung
Assistant Director
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Freedom of Information & Privacy Law E |
Section [5][email address]
Corporate Legal Branch T | +61 2 6261 3470
Legal Division W | [6]www.dfat.gov.au
Dear Marie-Charlotte McKenna,
Thank you for your assistance with my FOI request. I do not mind receiving hundreds of pages of attachments, but I understand that it can be difficult to process so many documents. I do not want to divert DFAT’s time and resources too much, so I would prefer to continue with the request and narrow its scope.
I am particularly interested in documents related to the meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, especially those that involve pharmaceuticals and drugs, intellectual property, agriculture, environmental regulations, and communications to/from commercial entities or corporate representatives. Perhaps it is possible to use these terms as keywords while collecting the relevant documents.
Please let me know whether that is sufficient or whether the request would need to be narrowed further. I can be contacted by email ([email address]) or telephone (+1-520-306-8158).
Yours sincerely,
Ramin Skibba
Dear Mckenna, Marie-Charlotte,
Thank you for your assistance with my FOI request. I do not mind receiving hundreds of pages of attachments, but I understand that it can be difficult to process so many documents. I do not want to divert DFAT’s time and resources too much, so I would prefer to continue with the request and narrow its scope.
I am particularly interested in documents related to the meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, especially those that involve pharmaceuticals and drugs, intellectual property, agriculture, environmental regulations, and communications to/from commercial entities or corporate representatives. Perhaps it is possible to use these terms as keywords while collecting the relevant documents.
Please let me know whether that is sufficient or whether the request would need to be narrowed further. I can be contacted by email ([email address]) or telephone (+1-520-306-8158).
Yours sincerely,
Ramin Skibba
Dear Mckenna, Marie-Charlotte,
Thank you for your work on my FOI request. Please let me know (by email or telephone) if I can help, for example, if you would like to narrow the search for documents.
In the meantime, since you mentioned that you had already captured at least 90 relevant documents with many pages of attachments, I would appreciate it if you could share those with me.
Yours sincerely,
Ramin Skibba
I am out of the office and will return on Thursday 25 February. I will
respond to your message on my return.
For urgent matters in my absence please contact Ada Cheung
([email address]). Thank you.
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Skibba,
Please note that your proposed rescope of your FOI request does not
sufficiently narrow the scope to an extent that would make it possible for
the Department to process your request.
Should you wish to propose a further narrowed scope, I would be grateful
if you could do so by 10 March. Please note that if a revised scope is not
agreed by that date, your request will be deemed to have been withdrawn in
accordance with s.24 of the FOI Act.
With regards to your email of 24 February, please note that in accordance
with my prior email, your request as originally formulated has captured
too many documents for the Department to process as it would require an
unreasonable diversion of resources.
Regards,
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Marie-Charlotte McKenna | |
| | |
|Director, Legal | |
|Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade | |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|FOI and Privacy Law Section |T | +61 2 6261 1111 |
|-----------------------------------------+------------------------------|
|Corporate Legal Branch |W| [1]www.dfat.gov.au |
|-----------------------------------------+------------------------------|
|Legal Division | |
|-----------------------------------------+------------------------------|
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Please note that I work on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursday and Fridays.
This email and any attachments may contain confidential information or
legal advice over which legal professional privilege can be claimed. Such
privilege is not waived and you should ensure that, in your handling of
the advice, you avoid waiving privilege. Please consult the author of the
advice if unsure about appropriate handling.
Dear Mckenna, Marie-Charlotte,
Thank you for providing me the opportunity to further narrow the scope of my FOI request. I believe that we can meet your 10 March deadline.
I request that a copy of the following documents and records involving the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Ministerial meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, USA from 30 September 2015 to 1 October 2015 be provided to me: programs, talk slides, and budgets. I request *only* documents related to the TPP meeting that have the keywords "intellectual property."
If this does not retrieve many documents, then please also search for documents related to the meeting with the keywords "company" or "corporation."
I hope that this re-scope is sufficient. If not, please let me know.
Yours sincerely,
Ramin Skibba
Dear Mckenna, Marie-Charlotte,
I did not receive a reply to my previous message, so I'd like to repeat the main point of it here:
To narrow the scope of the request and make it manageable, I request that a copy of the following documents and records involving the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Ministerial meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, USA from 30 September 2015 to 1 October 2015 be provided to me: programs, talk slides, and budgets. I request *only* documents related to the TPP meeting that have the keywords "intellectual property."
Thank you for your help.
Yours sincerely,
Ramin Skibba
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Skibba,
Please see attached correspondence regarding the outcome of your FOI
Request.
Yours sincerely,
Felicia Nevins
Dear Tegan Brink and Felicia Nevins,
Thank you for searching for documents including the keywords "intellectual property." It's unfortunate that no records turned up. You continued to encourage me to narrow my request, however, and I do not believe that it has yet been fulfilled.
Therefore, as part of this FOI request, I would appreciate it if you could search for and provide me a copy of documents and records involving the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) meeting in Atlanta, Georgia (30 Sep.-1 Oct. 2015) including the keywords "regulation" or "medicine."
This FOI request is in the public interest and disseminating such information would contribute to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government.
Thank you for your time and for your help in fulfilling this request.
Yours sincerely,
Ramin Skibba
UNCLASSIFIED
FOI Ref: FOI 1604-1437L
File No: 15/54045
Dear Mr Skibba,
Re: Freedom of Information (FOI) Request
Thank you for your email dated 24 March 2016 advising us that you wish to
further revise the scope of your request under the Freedom of Information
Act 1982 (FOI Act) to:
“a copy of documents and records involving the Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP) meeting in Atlanta, Georgia (30 Sep.-1 Oct. 2015) including the
keywords "regulation" or "medicine”."
Please note, as advised in our letter dated 22 March 2016, your previous
request (FOI Ref 1601-F1360) was refused under section 24A(1)(b)(ii) of
the FOI and therefore, this current request is being processed by the
Department as a new request (FOI Ref 1604-1437L) registered on 24 March
2016.
The Department is currently undertaking searches for documents relevant to
your current request. I will contact you again once the searches have
been completed.
Timeframe for receiving your decision:
We received your current request on 24 March 2016 and the 30 day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from the day after that
date. You should therefore expect a decision from us by 23 April 2016.
As you are aware, the period of 30 days may be extended in certain
circumstances. We will advise you if there is any extension of time.
Scope of request:
If it emerges that the scope of your current request is unclear or is too
large for processing, the Department will contact you to discuss
re-scoping the request.
Exclusion of officials’ names and contact details:
As previously advised, it is the Department’s policy to withhold the
mobile numbers of all government officials, and the names and contact
details of government officials not in the Senior Executive Service
(SES). If you require the mobile numbers of all government officials, or
the names and contact details of non-SES officials, please let us know at
[1][DFAT request email] so the decision-maker may consider; otherwise we will
take it that you agree to that information being excluded from the scope
of your request.
Charges:
Please note that the Department issues charges for processing FOI
requests. We will advise you of these charges when we are in a position
to estimate the resources required to process your request.
Timing of release:
As the subject matter of your request will require DFAT to upload any
documents released to you to the Department’s FOI Disclosure Log, I take
this opportunity to advise you that the Department’s policy is to upload
documents to the disclosure log on the same day as the documents are
released to you.
Personal Information:
Your personal information has been collected by the Department as a result
of your correspondence, and will be used in order to process your FOI
request. Your personal information is protected by law, including the
Privacy Act 1988. The Department’s privacy policy is available at
[2]dfat.gov.au/privacy.html and contains information about access to or
correction of your personal information, and how you may complain about a
breach of your privacy.
Please note that if we need to consult with other people regarding release
of the documents you have requested, we may need to disclose your personal
information. When we consult with other people about a request you have
made, it may be apparent to those people that you have made a request,
even if we do not disclose your identity. If you have concerns about the
Department consulting with other people about your request, please let us
know your concerns.
Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to
contact me on (02) 6261 1419, or by return email.
Please note a copy of this email has been sent to Marie-Charlotte McKenna,
Director, Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section, for her
information.
Yours sincerely
Felicia Nevins
UNCLASSIFIED
FOI Ref: FOI 1604-1437L
File No: 15/54045
Dear Mr Skibba,
Please see attached letter regarding the outcome of your FOI Request.
Best regards,
Felicia Nevins