Tony Abbott's 2024 Trip to CPAC Hungary
Dear Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
This is a Freedom of Information Request for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
I seek access to the following:
(a) All correspondence between the DFAT and the Australian Government entities in relation to Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott's visit to Hungary and appearance at CPAC Hungary in 2024
(b) notes, summaries or records of discussions between the DFAT Secretary and Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott's visit to Hungary and appearance at CPAC Hungary in 2024
(c) Any submissions sent by the DFAT to the Foreign Minister or the Trade Minister in relation to Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott's visit to Hungary and appearance at CPAC Hungary in 2024
(d) Any submissions sent by the Foreign Minister or the Trade Minister to the DFAT in relation to Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott's visit to Hungary and appearance at CPAC Hungary in 2024
Yours faithfully,
Alex Pentland
OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Pentland
Thank you for your request.
Can you please clarify item (b)? Discussions between the DFAT secretary
and who regarding former Prime Minister Abbott’s visit to Hungary?
Kind regards
DFAT FOI Team
_______________________________
Freedom of Information Section
Public Interest Law Branch | Regulatory and Legal Policy Division
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[1]dfat.gov.au | [2]Twitter | [3]Facebook | [4]Instagram | [5]LinkedIn
© Kim Hill, Among Women (2011)
[6]We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout
Australia, and their continuing connection to land, waters and community.
We pay our respects to all First Nations peoples, their cultures and to
their Elders, past, present and emerging.
Dear FOI Team
Thanks for your swift reply, and I must apologise for my typo. I think I accidentally copied part of the clause while copying and made an error my my end
Clause (b) *should* read as follow:
"(b) notes, summaries or records of discussions between the DFAT Secretary and Tony Abbott regarding former Prime Minister Abbott’s visit to Hungary in 2024"
I hope to be more cautious with my phrasing in future.
Yours sincerely,
Alex Pentland
OFFICIAL
FOI Request: LEX 10714
Dear Mr Pentland
Thank you for your email dated 26 April 2024 seeking access to documents
under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act).
This email sets out some information about how your request will be
processed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the department).
Scope of request:
You have sought access to:
(a) All correspondence between the DFAT and the Australian Government
entities in relation to Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott's visit to
Hungary and appearance at CPAC Hungary in 2024
(b) notes, summaries or records of discussions between the DFAT Secretary
and Tony Abbott regarding former Prime Minister Abbott’s visit to Hungary
in 2024
(c) Any submissions sent by the DFAT to the Foreign Minister or the Trade
Minister in relation to Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott's visit to
Hungary and appearance at CPAC Hungary in 2024
(d) Any submissions sent by the Foreign Minister or the Trade Minister to
the DFAT in relation to Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott's visit to
Hungary and appearance at CPAC Hungary in 2024
If it emerges that the scope of your request is unclear or is too large
for processing, the department will contact you to discuss re-scoping the
request.
Timeframe for receiving our decision:
We received your request on 26 April 2024, and the 30-day statutory
period for processing your request commenced from the day after that date.
A decision is currently due to you by 27 May 2024. The period of 30 days
may be extended in certain circumstances.
Charges:
Please note that the department may issue charges for processing FOI
requests. If applicable, we will advise you of any relevant charges when
we are in a position to estimate the resources required to process your
request.
Disclosure log:
Please note that, with some exceptions (such as personal information),
documents released under the FOI Act may later be published on the
department’s [1]disclosure log.
Exclusion of officials’ names and contact details:
It is the department’s policy to withhold the mobile numbers of all
government officials, and the names, gender pronouns, and contact details
of government officials not in the Senior Executive Service (SES) or
equivalent. If you require the mobile numbers of all government officials,
or the names and contact details of non-SES officials, please let us know
at [2][DFAT 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.
Personal Information:
If we need to consult with other people or organisations regarding your
FOI request, we may need to disclose your personal information (e.g. your
name). When we consult it may be apparent that you have made a request,
even if we do not disclose your identity. Please let us know if you have
any concerns in this regard. Further information on the way the department
handles personal information is accessible via our [3]privacy policy.
Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to
contact us by reply email.
Kind regards
DFAT FOI Team
_______________________________
Freedom of Information Section
Public Interest Law Branch | Regulatory and Legal Policy Division
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[4]dfat.gov.au | [5]Twitter | [6]Facebook | [7]Instagram | [8]LinkedIn
© Kim Hill, Among Women (2011)
[9]We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout
Australia, and their continuing connection to land, waters and community.
We pay our respects to all First Nations peoples, their cultures and to
their Elders, past, present and emerging.
OFFICIAL
FOI Reference: LEX 10714
Dear Mr Pentland
Thank you for your recent FOI request made to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the department).
The department continues to process your request and is currently undertaking searches across multiple line areas to identify relevant document holdings.
We write to seek your agreement to an extension of 30 calendar days to process your FOI request in accordance with section 15AA of the FOI Act. This would mean that a decision would then be due to you by 26 June 2024.
The additional time will enable the department to finalise its processes and provide you with an outcome.
Please be assured that we will continue to process your request as quickly as possible, and will provide an outcome to you as soon as it is available.
If you are minded to agree, we would be grateful if you could please confirm your agreement by COB 21 May 2024.
If we do not hear from you, we may apply to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner for an extension to the statutory timeframe.
Should you have any questions, please to contact us by reply email.
Kind regards
DFAT FOI Team
_______________________________
Freedom of Information Section
Public Interest Law Branch | Regulatory and Legal Policy Division
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
dfat.gov.au | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn
© Kim Hill, Among Women (2011)
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to all First Nations peoples, their cultures and to their Elders, past, present and emerging.
Dear FOI Team,
I agree to the proposed extension of time. I also wish you the best of luck.
Yours sincerely,
Alex Pentland
FOI Reference: LEX 10714
Dear Alex Pentland
I refer to your request to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the department) for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).
I am writing to let you know that the department’s preliminary examination of the documents relevant to your request has determined that consultations are required as provided for in section 27A of the FOI Act, as the documents contain personal information relating to other persons.
The other persons may contend that the disclosure of their personal information would be an unreasonable disclosure of personal information, as defined in section 47F of the FOI Act.
To allow the other person a reasonable opportunity to consider whether to contend that their personal information should be exempt from disclosure, the statutory 30-day time limit for processing your request is extended by another 30 days, as provided for in section 15(6) of the FOI Act. Accordingly, a decision will now be due to you by 25 July 2024.
While consultation with persons whose personal information appears in the documents is required by the FOI Act, this does not confer a right of veto on the release of this information or the documents as a whole. The decision remains that of the department’s decision-maker, who must have regard to any submissions put forward by the persons concerned.
Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us by reply email.
Kind regards
DFAT FOI Team
_______________________________
Freedom of Information Section
Public Interest Law Branch | Regulatory and Legal Policy Division
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
dfat.gov.au | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn
© Kim Hill, Among Women (2011)
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to all First Nations peoples, their cultures and to their Elders, past, present and emerging.
OFFICIAL
Dear Mr Pentland
Please see the attached correspondence regarding your request, as well as the documents which have been released to you.
Kind regards
DFAT FOI Team
_______________________________
Freedom of Information Section
Public Interest Law Branch | Regulatory and Legal Policy Division
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
dfat.gov.au | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn
© Brooke Rigney-Lively (2024)
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to all First Nations peoples, their cultures and to their Elders, past, present and emerging.