Incoming government briefs
Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
I seek copies of the incoming government briefs - "red" and "blue" books - for the Liberal and Labor parties.
Yours faithfully,
Marcus Priest
Australian Financial Review
FOI/2013/094
Dear Mr Priest
Thank you for your email of 10 September 2013 on behalf of the Australian Financial Review from the Right to Know site, received by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department), in which you made a request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) in the following terms:
I seek copies of the incoming government briefs - "red" and "blue" books - for the Liberal and Labor parties.
Timeframe for receiving your decision
We received your request on 10 September 2013 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 10 October 2013. The period of 30 days may be extended in certain circumstances. We will advise you if there is any extension of time.
Charges
Agencies may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a charge in respect of a request for access to documents. If the Department decides that you are liable to pay a charge, we will send you a preliminary assessment of the charge as soon as possible.
Publication of documents
Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be published online on our disclosure log at http://www.dpmc.gov.au/foi/ips/disclosur..., subject to certain exceptions. If you think you might wish to raise any objections to the publication of any of the information which may be released to you please contact us by email at [DPMC request email]. If you do wish to object to the publication of information, you would need to provide supporting reasons.
Exclusion of officers’ names and contact details
It is the Department’s policy to withhold the names and contact details of officers not in the Senior Executive Service (SES) within the Department and other agencies contained within documents that fall within scope of the request. The names and details of departmental and agency SES officers will not be withheld unless there is some reason for that information to be exempt from release. If you require the names and contact details of non-SES officers please let us know at [DPMC 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.
We will write again when the Department has more information. Further information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_....
Regards
FOI Adviser
Legal Policy Branch
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Phone: 02 6271 5849
Email: [DPMC request email]
-----Original Message-----
From: Marcus Priest [mailto:[FOI #387 email]]
Sent: Tuesday, 10 September 2013 7:28 AM
To: FOI
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Incoming government briefs
Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
I seek copies of the incoming government briefs - "red" and "blue"
books - for the Liberal and Labor parties.
Yours faithfully,
Marcus Priest
Australian Financial Review
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #387 email]
Is [DPMC request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet? If so,
please contact us using this form:
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/contact
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.
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be
published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
Dear Mr Priest,
The Department is currently processing your FOI request seeking:
...copies of the incoming government briefs - "red" and "blue" books - for the Liberal and Labor parties.
Due to a number of factors including the following, the Department is unlikely to finalise the request by its current due date of 10 October 2013:
• the complexity of the request;
• balancing the decision-maker’s time between deciding the FOI request and being responsible for the implementation of systems for providing ministerial support to the Prime Minister and other ministers in the portfolio; and
• the decision-maker is currently unwell and out of the office.
In accordance with s15AA of the FOI Act, the Department seeks your agreement to an extension of the due date to 9 November 2013. However, the Department expects to be in a position to finalise the request prior to this date.
We kindly request you confirm consent to the extension by way of return email. If you are not agreeable to this extension of time, we would be grateful for notice as soon as possible to allow us sufficient time to seek an extension from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
Regards
FOI Adviser
Legal Policy Branch
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Phone: 02 6271 5849
Email: [DPMC request email]
-----Original Message-----
From: Marcus Priest [mailto:[FOI #387 email]]
Sent: Tuesday, 10 September 2013 7:28 AM
To: FOI
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Incoming government briefs
Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
I seek copies of the incoming government briefs - "red" and "blue"
books - for the Liberal and Labor parties.
Yours faithfully,
Marcus Priest
Australian Financial Review
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #387 email]
Is [DPMC request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet? If so,
please contact us using this form:
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/contact
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.
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be
published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
Dear Mr Priest,
As the Department had not received a response from you on the date by which we were required to notify you of a decision, we sought an extension of the due date from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OIAC). The OAIC has granted the Department an extension of 30 days. Therefore the new due date for this request is 9 November 2013.
Unfortunately, the decision-maker for your request is still unwell and has not been in the office this week. We expect to be in a position to notify you of a decision prior to the new due date but this may be affected if the decision-maker’s unexpected leave is extensive. Nevertheless, we will keep you appraised of our progress towards making a decision and if it is likely that the decision-maker will be absent for an extended period, we will explore the appointment of a new decision-maker.
Regards
FOI Adviser
Legal Policy Branch
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Phone: 02 6271 5849
Email: [DPMC request email]
-----Original Message-----
From: FOI
Sent: Tuesday, 8 October 2013 12:17 PM
To: Marcus Priest ([FOI #387 email])
Cc: FOI
Subject: FOI/2013/094 Freedom of Information request - Incoming government briefs [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
Dear Mr Priest,
The Department is currently processing your FOI request seeking:
...copies of the incoming government briefs - "red" and "blue" books - for the Liberal and Labor parties.
Due to a number of factors including the following, the Department is unlikely to finalise the request by its current due date of 10 October 2013:
• the complexity of the request;
• balancing the decision-maker’s time between deciding the FOI request and being responsible for the implementation of systems for providing ministerial support to the Prime Minister and other ministers in the portfolio; and
• the decision-maker is currently unwell and out of the office.
In accordance with s15AA of the FOI Act, the Department seeks your agreement to an extension of the due date to 9 November 2013. However, the Department expects to be in a position to finalise the request prior to this date.
We kindly request you confirm consent to the extension by way of return email. If you are not agreeable to this extension of time, we would be grateful for notice as soon as possible to allow us sufficient time to seek an extension from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
Regards
FOI Adviser
Legal Policy Branch
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Phone: 02 6271 5849
Email: [DPMC request email]
-----Original Message-----
From: Marcus Priest [mailto:[FOI #387 email]]
Sent: Tuesday, 10 September 2013 7:28 AM
To: FOI
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Incoming government briefs
Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
I seek copies of the incoming government briefs - "red" and "blue"
books - for the Liberal and Labor parties.
Yours faithfully,
Marcus Priest
Australian Financial Review
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #387 email]
Is [DPMC request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet? If so,
please contact us using this form:
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/contact
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.
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be
published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offic...
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
Dear Mr Priest,
Please see the attached correspondence in relation to your FOI request to
the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (reference FOI/2013/094).
Regards
FOI Adviser
Legal Policy Branch
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Phone: 02 6271 5849
Email: [1][DPMC request email]
[2]Description: Description: Description: FOI design element
______________________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT: This message, and any attachments to it, contains information
that is confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional or
other privilege. If you are not the intended recipient of this message,
you
must not review, copy, disseminate or disclose its contents to any other
party or take action in reliance of any material contained within it. If
you
have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
by
return email informing them of the mistake and delete all copies of the
message from your computer system.
______________________________________________________________________
References
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