Dear ST

Thank you for your below request which seeks access to:

'...a copy of any communication between staff in the office of the Minister for Agriculture and the Australian Alliance for Animals or any other animal activist group from 27 February 2023 - Sunday 5 March 2023.

This includes any material relating to announcement of the panel on live sheep export phase out, announced on 3 March 2023.

For the avoidance of doubt, I am seeking all written communication regardless of whether by email, letter, SMS, Signal, Whatsapp or other format.'

Can you please confirm whether your request is being made to the Office of Senator the Hon Murray Watt, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, or to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry?

It appears from the nature of your request that you are seeking documents from the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, rather than the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry however we would appreciate your confirmation by close of business tomorrow, 17 March 2023.

Kind regards

FOI Contact Officer | Legal Division
E: [DAFF request email]

show quoted sections

Dear ST

I refer to your FOI request relating to communications between staff in the office of the Minister for Agriculture and animal activist groups regarding live sheep trade.

We sent you the below correspondence on 16 March 2023, seeking confirmation as to whether your request is being made to the Office of Senator the Hon Murray Watt, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, or to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

As we have not yet received a response from you, we will take your request as being made to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, unless you advise us otherwise.

Kind regards

FOI Contact Officer | Legal Division
E: [DAFF request email]

show quoted sections

Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry GPO BOX 858 CANBERRA ACT 2601

This email and any attachments may contain information subject to legal professional privilege or information that is otherwise sensitive or confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you are prohibited from using or disseminating this communication. If you have received this communication in error please notify the sender immediately and permanently delete this email.

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Dear ST

Acknowledgement of Freedom of Information Request – LEX 29237

The Office of Senator the Hon Murray Watt, Minister for Agriculture,
Fisheries and Forestry, acknowledges receipt of your request sent on 16
March 2023 under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) which
seeks:

‘I request a copy of any communication between staff in the office of the
Minister for Agriculture and the Australian Alliance for Animals or any
other animal activist group from 27 February 2023 - Sunday 5 March 2023.

This includes any material relating to announcement of the panel on live
sheep export phase out, announced on 3 March 2023.

For the avoidance of doubt, I am seeking all written communication
regardless of whether by email, letter, SMS, Signal, Whatsapp or other
format’

Your address

The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address which we can send
notices to. You have advised your electronic address is
[1][FOI #10069 email]. We will send all notices
and correspondence to these addresses.

Please advise us as soon as possible if you wish for correspondence to be
sent to another address or if your address changes. If you do not advise
us of changes to your address, correspondence and notices will continue to
be sent to the address specified above.

Disclosure log

Please note that information released under the FOI Act may be published
in a disclosure log on the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and
Forestry’s website. Section 11C of the FOI Act requires this publication,
however it is subject to certain exceptions, including where publication
of personal, business, professional or commercial information would be
unreasonable.

Exclusion of junior department employee details

Where Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry staff details or
junior staff in the Minister’s office are included in the scope of a
request, this may add to processing time and applicable charges as it may
be necessary to consider whether the details are exempt under the FOI Act.
On this basis, unless you tell us otherwise, we will assume that these
details are out of scope of your request and they will be redacted under
section 22 of the FOI Act.

Regards

FOI Contact Officer on behalf of the

Office of Senator the Hon Murray Watt

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

------ IMPORTANT - This email and any attachments have been issued by the
Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the
Environment. The material transmitted is for the use of the intended
recipient only and may contain confidential, legally privileged, copyright
or personal information. You should not copy, use or disclose it without
authorisation from the Department. It is your responsibility to check any
attachments for viruses and defects before opening or forwarding them. If
you are not an intended recipient, please contact the sender of this email
at once by return email and then delete both messages. Unintended
recipients must not copy, use, disclose, rely on or publish this email or
attachments. The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment is
not liable for any loss or damage resulting from unauthorised use or
dissemination of, or any reliance on, this email or attachments. If you
have received this e-mail as part of a valid mailing list and no longer
want to receive a message such as this one, advise the sender by return
e-mail accordingly. This notice should not be deleted or altered ------

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #10069 email]

Dear ST

I refer to your request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth)
regarding communications with animal activist groups (our reference
LEX-29237).

Third party consultation

We note that your request contains personal information of one or more
third parties and information about the business affairs of an
organisation or information about the business or professional affairs of
one or more third parties.

To inform the decision on release of documents, the FOI Act requires that
the above third parties are consulted, and provides a further time period
for the consultation process. Subsection 15(6) of the FOI Act extends the
standard statutory 30‑day time limit for processing requests by another 30
calendar days.

Accordingly, this will give the Office 60 calendar days within which to
notify you of its decision on access to the documents.

If you have any questions, please contact us at [1][DAFF request email].

Regards

FOI Contact Officer on behalf of the

Office of Senator the Hon Murray Watt

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

From: Foi <[DAFF request email]>
Sent: Thursday, 23 March 2023 1:29 PM
To: '[FOI #10069 email]'
<[FOI #10069 email]>
Cc: Foi <[DAFF request email]>
Subject: Acknowledgment of your Freedom of Information (FOI) Request - LEX
29237 [SEC=OFFICIAL]

Dear ST

Acknowledgement of Freedom of Information Request – LEX 29237

The Office of Senator the Hon Murray Watt, Minister for Agriculture,
Fisheries and Forestry, acknowledges receipt of your request sent on 16
March 2023 under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) which
seeks:

‘I request a copy of any communication between staff in the office of the
Minister for Agriculture and the Australian Alliance for Animals or any
other animal activist group from 27 February 2023 - Sunday 5 March 2023.

This includes any material relating to announcement of the panel on live
sheep export phase out, announced on 3 March 2023.

For the avoidance of doubt, I am seeking all written communication
regardless of whether by email, letter, SMS, Signal, Whatsapp or other
format’

Your address

The FOI Act requires that you provide us with an address which we can send
notices to. You have advised your electronic address is
[2][FOI #10069 email]. We will send all notices
and correspondence to these addresses.

Please advise us as soon as possible if you wish for correspondence to be
sent to another address or if your address changes. If you do not advise
us of changes to your address, correspondence and notices will continue to
be sent to the address specified above.

Disclosure log

Please note that information released under the FOI Act may be published
in a disclosure log on the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and
Forestry’s website. Section 11C of the FOI Act requires this publication,
however it is subject to certain exceptions, including where publication
of personal, business, professional or commercial information would be
unreasonable.

Exclusion of junior department employee details

Where Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry staff details or
junior staff in the Minister’s office are included in the scope of a
request, this may add to processing time and applicable charges as it may
be necessary to consider whether the details are exempt under the FOI Act.
On this basis, unless you tell us otherwise, we will assume that these
details are out of scope of your request and they will be redacted under
section 22 of the FOI Act.

Regards

FOI Contact Officer on behalf of the

Office of Senator the Hon Murray Watt

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

------ IMPORTANT - This email and any attachments have been issued by the
Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the
Environment. The material transmitted is for the use of the intended
recipient only and may contain confidential, legally privileged, copyright
or personal information. You should not copy, use or disclose it without
authorisation from the Department. It is your responsibility to check any
attachments for viruses and defects before opening or forwarding them. If
you are not an intended recipient, please contact the sender of this email
at once by return email and then delete both messages. Unintended
recipients must not copy, use, disclose, rely on or publish this email or
attachments. The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment is
not liable for any loss or damage resulting from unauthorised use or
dissemination of, or any reliance on, this email or attachments. If you
have received this e-mail as part of a valid mailing list and no longer
want to receive a message such as this one, advise the sender by return
e-mail accordingly. This notice should not be deleted or altered ------

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[DAFF request email]
2. mailto:[FOI #10069 email]

Dear ST

Please find attached correspondence in relation to your FOI request (LEX
29237).

Regards

FOI Contact Officer on behalf of the

Office of Senator the Hon Murray Watt

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

------ IMPORTANT - This email and any attachments have been issued by the
Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the
Environment. The material transmitted is for the use of the intended
recipient only and may contain confidential, legally privileged, copyright
or personal information. You should not copy, use or disclose it without
authorisation from the Department. It is your responsibility to check any
attachments for viruses and defects before opening or forwarding them. If
you are not an intended recipient, please contact the sender of this email
at once by return email and then delete both messages. Unintended
recipients must not copy, use, disclose, rely on or publish this email or
attachments. The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment is
not liable for any loss or damage resulting from unauthorised use or
dissemination of, or any reliance on, this email or attachments. If you
have received this e-mail as part of a valid mailing list and no longer
want to receive a message such as this one, advise the sender by return
e-mail accordingly. This notice should not be deleted or altered ------