Letters between Gough Whitlam PM and Buckingham Palace
Dear FOI team
Under the terms of the FOI Act I am writing to request:
Copies of all letters between Prime Minister Gough Whitlam (5 Dec 1972 – 11 Nov 1975) and i) the Queen ii) Prince Charles. This should also include correspondence with staff in their respective offices (e.g. Private Secretaries).
I look forward to your response in due course.
Best wishes
William Summers
UNCLASSIFIED
Our reference: FOI/2017/004
Dear Mr Summers
Thank you for your email dated 9 January 2017 received by the Department
of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department), in which you made a
request to the Department under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the
FOI Act) in the following terms:
‘Copies of all letters between Prime Minister Gough Whitlam (5 Dec 1972 –
11 Nov 1975) and i) the Queen ii) Prince Charles. This should also include
correspondence with staff in their respective offices (e.g. Private
Secretaries). ’
Timeframe for receiving your decision
We received your request on 9 January 2017 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 Wednesday 8 February 2017.
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
[1]http://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/accountabilit...,
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 [2][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
For documents that fall within scope of the request, it is the
Department’s policy to withhold:
· any person’s signature;
· the names and contact details of Australian Public Service
officers not in the Senior Executive Service (SES);
· the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers;
· the names and contact details of Ministerial staff at a level
below Chief of Staff.
The names and other details of SES officers will not be withheld unless
there is some reason for that information to be exempt from release. If
you require signatures, the names and contact details of non-SES officers
or Ministerial staff below the level of Chief of Staff, or the mobile or
direct numbers of SES officers please let us know at [3][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 (that
is, the information will be treated as irrelevant and redacted from any
documents for release).
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
[4]http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_....
Yours sincerely
FOI Adviser
Access and Administrative Review Section | Honours, Symbols and Legal
Policy Branch
Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
p. 02 6271 5849
e. [5][DPMC request email]
[6]www.pmc.gov.au
PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
[7]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
Visible links
1. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/accountabilit...
2. mailto:[DPMC request email]
3. mailto:[DPMC request email]
4. http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_...
5. mailto:[DPMC request email]
6. http://www.pmc.gov.au/
UNCLASSIFIED
Our reference: FOI/2017/005
Dear Mr Summers
Thank you for your email dated 9 January 2017 received by the Department
of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department), in which you made a
request to the Department under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the
FOI Act) in the following terms:
Copies of all letters between Prime Minister Paul Keating (20 Dec 1991 –
11 Mar 1996) and i) the Queen ii) Prince Charles. This should also include
correspondence with their respective offices (e.g. Private Secretaries).
Timeframe for receiving your decision
We received your request on 9 January 2017 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 Wednesday 8 February 2017.
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
[1]http://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/accountabilit...,
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 [2][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
For documents that fall within scope of the request, it is the
Department’s policy to withhold:
· any person’s signature;
· the names and contact details of Australian Public Service
officers not in the Senior Executive Service (SES);
· the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers;
· the names and contact details of Ministerial staff at a level
below Chief of Staff.
The names and other details of SES officers will not be withheld unless
there is some reason for that information to be exempt from release. If
you require signatures, the names and contact details of non-SES officers
or Ministerial staff below the level of Chief of Staff, or the mobile or
direct numbers of SES officers please let us know at [3][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 (that
is, the information will be treated as irrelevant and redacted from any
documents for release).
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
[4]http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_....
Yours sincerely
FOI Adviser
Access and Administrative Review Section | Honours, Symbols and Legal
Policy Branch
Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
p. 02 6271 5849
e. [5][DPMC request email]
[6]www.pmc.gov.au
PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
[7]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
Visible links
1. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/accountabilit...
2. mailto:[DPMC request email]
3. mailto:[DPMC request email]
4. http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_...
5. mailto:[DPMC request email]
6. http://www.pmc.gov.au/
Our reference: RQ17/00561
Agency reference: FOI/2017/004
Mr William Summers
By email: [1][FOI #2934 email]
Dear Mr Summers
Extension of time request under s15AB
On 8 February 2017, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the
Department) requested further time to make a decision on your FOI request
of 9 January 2017.
This request was on the basis that the processing period is insufficient
to deal adequately with your request, because it is complex or voluminous.
Information Commissioner has decided to grant Department an extension of
time to process your request to 14 February 2017. This decision has been
made under s15AB(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (the FOI
Act).
By granting further time it is anticipated that the Department will
provide a well-reasoned and better managed decision.
Contact
If you have any questions regarding this email please contact me on 1300
363 992 or via email [email address]. Please quote OAIC
reference number RQ17/00561 in all correspondence.
Yours sincerely
Irene Nicolaou | A/g Investigation and Review Officer | Freedom of
Information Dispute Resolution
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Level 3, 175 Pitt Street, SYDNEY NSW 2000
GPO Box 5128 SYDNEY NSW 2001| [2]www.oaic.gov.au
Phone: 1300 363 992 | E-mail: [3][email address]
Protecting information rights – advancing information policy
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References
Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #2934 email]
2. http://www.oaic.gov.au/
3. mailto:[email address]