Sale of Graincorp
Dear FOI Section
I am seeking the following documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 regarding the proposed sale of Graincorp to Archer Daniels Midland (ADM):
- all briefings, internal and external correspondence in relation to the proposed sale of Graincorp to ADM dated from January 2013 to the present day;
- any correspondence received from ADM addressing concerns raised by the sales (either from the Australian Government or other interested stakeholders) and details on how ADM would operate in Australia; and
- copy of advice received from the Foreign Investment Review Board.
Thank you in advance.
Yours faithfully,
Evelyn Doyle
Good afternoon Ms Doyle,
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your FOI request.
Kind Regards,
FOI Team
Parliamentary and Legal Services Unit
Ministerial and Communications Division
The Treasury, Langton Crescent, Parkes ACT 2600
phone: (02) 6263 2800
email: [1][email address]
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
Dear FOI Section
Thank you for your recent letter. In light of your department's refusal (on practical grounds) to action my request in its current form I wish to reduce the scope of the request as follows:
- copy of advice and correspondence received from the Foreign Investment Review Board in relation to the sale of Graincorp.
This should minimise any diversion of resources from core duties.
Thanks in advance for any advice on this request.
Yours sincerely
Evelyn Doyle
Dear FOI Section
In addition to my previous letter rescoping the FOI request to:
- copy of advice and correspondence received from the Foreign Investment Review Board in relation to the sale of Graincorp.
May I add another small component as follows:
- the most recent correspondence received by the Treasurer or Department of the Treasury from ADM in relation to the proposed sale of Graincorp and any reply sent.
Please note I only require the most recent correspondence in relation to the proposed sale of Graincorp.
Thanks again for any advice you may offer on this request.
Yours sincerely
Evelyn Doyle
Dear Ms Doyle,
Thank you for your proposed revised scope of 25 November 2013.
As revised, your request remains too large to process. With your
agreement, I would like to extend the request consultation period for a
further 10 days, to Wednesday 11 December 2013.
As per our correspondence of 21 November 2013, if you wish to discuss your
request further, please contact the FOI Team on (02) 6263 2800 or at
[1][Treasury request email]. Alternatively, should we not receive a response
by 11 December 2013, we will deem your request withdrawn.
Furthermore, we wish to advise that the Treasury will be closed from
Tuesday 24 December 2013 and will resume operations on Thursday 2 January
2014.
To assist us in processing your request during the holiday period, we seek
your agreement under section 15AA of the Freedom of Information Act to a
15 day extension of time in relation to your request.
Please respond by return email as soon as possible if you agree to the
extension so we can notify the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner.
Kind regards,
FOI Team
Parliamentary and Legal Services Unit
Ministerial and Communications Division
The Treasury, Langton Crescent, Parkes ACT 2600
phone: (02) 6263 2800
email: [2][email address]
References
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1. file:///tmp/[Treasury request email]
2. mailto:[email address]
Dear FOI Section
Thank you for your recent response. I am assuming that it is the first part relating to the FIRB correspondence that may be proving too large.
Perhaps if I can assist by narrowing that aspect further and also request only the most recent correspondence that relates to recommendations around the sale of Graincorp to ADM (prior to the date of my original letter 24 November 2013).
The second aspect (as above) relating to ADM remains the same as it is narrowed sufficiently.
I also give permission for the extension as requested.
Yours sincerely
Evelyn Doyle
Dear Ms Doyle,
Thank you for your proposed revised scope of 6 December 2013.
We have taken your revised request to be for:
· the most recent correspondence that relates to recommendations
around the sale of Graincorp to ADM received from the Foreign Investment
Review Board in relation to the sale of Graincorp; and
· the most recent correspondence received by the Treasurer or the
Department of the Treasury from ADM in relation to the proposed sale of
Graincorp and any reply sent.
We have taken the relevant period of your revised request to be documents
in existence as at 24 November 2013.
Grateful if you can please confirm by 16 December that this is your
intended revised request.
Kind regards
FOI Team
Parliamentary and Legal Services Unit
Ministerial and Communications Division
The Treasury, Langton Crescent, Parkes ACT 2600
phone: (02) 6263 2800
email: [1][email address]
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
Dear FOI,
Yes my revised request is as follows:
That is:
- the most recent correspondence that relates to recommendations around the sale of Graincorp to ADM received from the Foreign Investment Review Board; and
- the most recent correspondence received by the Treasurer or the Department of the Treasury from ADM in relation to the proposed sale of Graincorp and any reply sent.
I confirm that the relevant period of the revised request to be documents in existence as at 24 November 2013
Yours sincerely,
Evelyn Doyle
Dear Ms Doyle,
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your FOI request.
Kind Regards,
FOI Team
Parliamentary and Legal Services Unit
Ministerial and Communications Division
The Treasury, Langton Crescent, Parkes ACT 2600
phone: (02) 6263 2800
email: [1][email address]
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
Dear FOI Section
Thank you for your recent letter in which you advise FOI charges of $75.00.
I am surprised at the charge given my request covers only two documents (both scoped as narrowly as possible ie. 'most recent') and given the first five hours are designated free.
Sourcing the documents would take very little time and decision making on top of that, I would argue, would be straightforward, falling within the five hour free period. The drafting of letters or phone calls to third parties would not be, in my estimateion, greater than five hours. Much of the time is in waiting for third party responses, which is not calculated in respect of the processing time.
I wonder if you could reassess the charges on the basis of the above.
Thanks in advance
Yours sincerely
Evelyn Doyle
Evelyn Doyle left an annotation ()
Thanks Henare. The article gives an indication of where the request might be heading. I made the request before the Graincorp decision was made public and subsequently thought about withdrawing. There may be others interested in the outcome so I will see what transpires.
Dear FOI Team
I have not as yet received a response regarding a review of the charges. Has there been a decision made on this matter?
Regards
Evelyn Doyle
Dear Ms Doyle,
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your FOI request.
Regards
FOI Team
Parliamentary and Legal Services Unit
Ministerial and Communications Division
The Treasury, Langton Crescent, Parkes ACT 2600
phone: (02) 6263 2800
email: [1][email address]
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
Dear Mr Flanagan
Thank you for your response to my recent correspondence seeking a review of the charges.
My initial FoI request was sent prior to the Graincorp decision, thus my interest has changed sufficiently (and as the charges are to stand) I would like to formally withdraw the request.
Thanks for your consideration of this matter.
Yours sincerely
Evelyn Doyle
Henare Degan left an annotation ()
This article may also be of interest to the requester, "Graincorp advice stays secret": http://www.theland.com.au/news/agricultu...