Terry Romaro's Order Of Australia.
Dear Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General,
I would like to know why Terry Romaro received an Order Of Australia Medal in 2009.
Yours faithfully,
Andrew Laughton
<<Letter of receipt - Laughton FOI - Feb 2013.pdf>>
Karen Baker | Director | Corporate Services Branch
Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General
T (02) 6283 3510 | F (02) 6282 9165 | M 0437 880 039
Damien Donnelly left an annotation ()
The documents you should be requesting are the nominations for Terry Romaro. Selection is based of nomination from a group or an individual.
"Nominations to the Order of Australia come directly from the community: either individuals or groups."
Therefore, there should be some documents relating to the nomination.
Dear Mr Laughton,
Further to your email of today’s date, please find attached a copy of the
FOI decision.
I apologise for the delay in responding.
<<Letter - Decision by DOS - Laughton - FOI - 26 March 2013.pdf>>
Karen Baker | Director | Corporate Services Branch
Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General
T (02) 6283 3510 | F (02) 6282 9165 | M 0437 880 039
Damien Donnelly left an annotation ()
According to the Council of the Order of Australia website, they are not employed under Section 13 of the Governor General Act 1974, otherwise they would not be independent of the Governor Generals Office. This makes the fact of whether or not it is an administrative function irrelevant.
"The independent Council of The Order of Australia conducts the selection process and makes recommendations to the Governor-General."
- http://www.theorderofaustralia.asn.au/fa...
Also, collating the nominations I think is an administrative function anyway. This is the best legal definition of an administrative function. http://aclawresearch.blogspot.com.au/201...
I think a review is clearly warranted.
For the record, here is the nomination form - http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/no...
Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General,
Government House
Canberra ACT 2600.
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General's handling of my FOI request 'Terry Romaro's Order Of Australia.', which was denied on March 26, 2013, by Karen Baker.
[email address]
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/te...
Regarding the FOI act, Section 6A, item one.
The document I am requesting relates to administrative function, as specificity allowed under this section. Collating the nominations is an administrative function, and this document is also in the possession of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General, and this link to a legal definition should make clear.
http://aclawresearch.blogspot.com.au/201...
Also I am not requesting internal documents of the Council for the Order of Australia, I am requesting documents that were submitted to this Council.
The whole point of The Australian honours system is to recognise outstanding achievement and service. To offer it for sale or to people of dubious character is to reduce the entire honours system to an excuse to have a party, and an insult to those that have been honoured, as well as to those people that have been stolen from by recipients of the honour.
To that end the entire process should be open to the public, and only limited information held back to preserve the privacy of those involved. Hiding too much information leads to the possibility of corruption, with limited or no chance of being caught and held to account.
I can understand to a point that denying the public the opportunity to question any claims would reduce the workload of those involved in making the decisions, but by not being open and accountable the entire point of the honours system becomes mute, and can be used for financial advantage against those who believe the honours system is a legitimate integrity check.
In the case where the nomination is wrong in point of fact or even fraudulent, the council may make decisions based on the assumption that the information provided is true, and do Australians a disservice by honouring people that do not deserve it.
In the specific case of Terry Romaro, what has been reported is known to be wrong, but it is not known if the reporter made a mistake, or if he was reporting on what was presented to the honours council.
http://melville.inmycommunity.com.au/new...
The only way for this news item to be checked is to view the actual reasons this honour was issued in the first place, if the information provided to the council is unable to be checked the integrity of the honours council should be questioned, and if the council is anonymous there exists a very real possibility of corruption.
Regards Andrew Laughton. 31/3/2013.
I am out of the Office until Tuesday 2 April. Please direct any enquiries
to Bronwyn Morris on 62833508. Thank you.
Dear Mr Laughton,
Further to your email of 31 March to Deputy Official Secretary Mr Mark
Fraser, I am writing to inform you of receipt of your request for internal
review.
Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Office has 30 days within
which to conduct the review and respond.
The decision maker will be Official Secretary to the Governor-General, Mr
Stephen Brady.
Kind regards,
Kate Middleton
Corporate Coordinator | Corporate Services Branch
Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General
Government House, Canberra
T 02 6283 3514 │ F 02 6282 9165
[1]www.gg.gov.au
References
Visible links
1. http://www.gg.gov.au/
Dear Mr Laughton,
As outlined in my email to you of April 10, please find attached the
Office’s response to your request for internal review.
Kind regards,
Kate Middleton
Corporate Coordinator | Corporate Services Branch
Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General
Government House, Canberra
T 02 6283 3514 │ F 02 6282 9165
[1]www.gg.gov.au
References
Visible links
1. http://www.gg.gov.au/
Andrew Laughton left an annotation ()
The FOI act does not apply to the council of the Order of Australia.
I have reason to believe that this medal was either fraudulently obtained or bought, and that there was no background check done.
There is no publicly avaliable information, no way for that information to be independently verified or disputed, and effectivly makes the medal a receite for money spent bribing council members.