PMC correspondence with Mr Andrew Wallace MP

Trav S made this Freedom of Information request to Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.

The request was successful.

Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,

Please accept our request for information in accordance with the FOI Act.

In 2021, my colleagues and I submitted a confidential briefing document titled "Proposed Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal Amendment Regulation: Iraq Clasp" to government stakeholders. Statements from 2 Foreign Affairs Ministers and AusAID's Acting Director General were attached. As was a legislative drafting document produced by OPC in consultation with PM&C and AusAID.

Please provide a copy of all correspondence between your office and Mr Andrew Wallace MP relating to this brief and the matters raised therein.

Public interest compels scrutiny, review and comment of government's advice in this case. Relevantly, documents obtained via FOI evidence previous events in which the Branch responsible for HOSM administration deceived and misled government and members of the public. The basic legal premise "Falsus in uno, flasks in omnibus" bears weight in this case.

Yours faithfully,

Trav S

FOI, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

4 Attachments

OFFICIAL

FOI/2022/101

 

Dear Trav S

 

Thank you for your email dated 30 March 2022, 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:

 

In 2021, my colleagues and I submitted a confidential briefing document
titled "Proposed Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal Amendment Regulation:
Iraq Clasp" to government stakeholders.  Statements from 2 Foreign Affairs
Ministers and AusAID's Acting Director General were attached.  As was a
legislative drafting document produced by OPC in consultation with PM&C
and AusAID.

 

Please provide a copy of all correspondence between your office and Mr
Andrew Wallace MP relating to this brief and the matters raised therein. 

 

Timeframe for receiving your decision

 

We received your request on 30 March 2022 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 29 April 2022. The period of
30 days may be extended in certain circumstances under the FOI Act. We
will write to you regarding any extension of time that may relate to your
request.

 

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]https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/depart...,
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:

o any person’s signature;
o the names and contact details of Australian Public Service officers
not in the Senior Executive Service (SES);
o the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers;
o 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).

 

Further information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
[4]https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor....

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Adviser | FOI Section[]

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. (02) 6271 5849

Ngunnawal Country, One National Circuit  Barton  ACT  2600  |  PO Box
6500  CANBERRA  ACT  2600
e. [5][email address]  w. [6]pmc.gov.au

[7]cid:image001.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0[8]cid:image002.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0

[9]cid:image003.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0 The
Department
acknowledges
and pays
respect to
the past,
present and
emerging
Elders and
Traditional
Custodians
of Country,
and the
continuation
of cultural,
spiritual
and
educational
practices of
Aboriginal
and Torres
Strait
Islander
peoples.

 

 

______________________________________________________________________ 
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. https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/depart...
2. mailto:[DPMC request email]
3. mailto:[DPMC request email]
4. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
5. mailto:[email address]
6. https://www.pmc.gov.au/
7. https://twitter.com/pmc_gov_au
8. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...

FOI, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

3 Attachments

OFFICIAL

FOI/2022/101

 

Dear Trav S

 

Please find attached the decision regarding your request under the Freedom
of Information Act 1982.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Adviser | FOI Section[]

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. (02) 6271 5849

Ngunnawal Country | One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box
6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
e. [1][email address]  w. [2]pmc.gov.au

[3]cid:image003.jpg@01D78E24.FF2DAFB0 The
Department
acknowledges
and pays
respect to
the past,
present and
emerging
Elders and
Traditional
Custodians
of Country,
and the
continuation
of cultural,
spiritual
and
educational
practices of
Aboriginal
and Torres
Strait
Islander
peoples.

 

 

______________________________________________________________________ 
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. mailto:[email address]
2. https://www.pmc.gov.au/