OFFICIAL
 
Dear Mr H
 
I refer to your correspondence of 27 October 2019 sent to the Department
of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department) (as set out below) –
our reference FOI/2019/316.
 
Validity
 
This email is to advise that your request below, in its current form, does
not constitute a valid request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982
(FOI Act).
 
If you would like assistance to make a valid FOI request, please feel free
to contact the Department by return email at [1][email address] or
telephone 02 6271 5849.
 
Briefly, section 15 of the FOI Act requires that a request for access to
documents under the FOI Act meets certain requirements. These requirements
are:
-              It must be in writing;
-              It must state it is a request for the purposes of the FOI
Act;
-              It must provide such information as is reasonably necessary
to enable the agency to identify the document/s being sought.
 
Background information
 
We consulted the Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) on your email below.
AGD provided the following general and background comments only, which may
be of interest to you:
 
The Australia Act was enacted by the Commonwealth Parliament at the
request of the Australian States in accordance with section 51(xxxviii) of
the Constitution, which provides that the Commonwealth has legislative
power with respect to:
 
the exercise within the Commonwealth, at the request or with the
concurrence of the Parliaments of all States directly concerned, of any
power which can at the establishment of this Constitution be exercised
only by the Parliament of the United Kingdom or by the Federal Council of
Australasia.
 
The Australia Act 1986 was enacted in virtually identical terms by the
United Kingdom Parliament. As the long title of the Act indicates, it
brought certain arrangements affecting the Commonwealth and the States
into conformity with the status of the Commonwealth of Australia as a
fully independent, federal nation. Section 1, in particular, confirmed
that the United Kingdom Parliament no longer had power to make laws for
Australia.  The High Court has treated the Australia Act as enacted by the
Commonwealth parliament as valid and effective (see, for example,
Attorney-General (WA) v Marquet (2003) 217 CLR 545 at [66]-[67]).
 
If you are seeking legal advice, this is something the Department is not
in a position to provide to you and thus you may wish to seek independent
legal advice on this matter if you continue to have questions. The
Department will take no further action in relation to this enquiry.
 
Regards,
 
FOI Adviser
FOI and Privacy Section | Legal Policy Branch
Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
p. (02) 6271 5849
e. [2][DPMC request email] | w. [3]www.pmc.gov.au
One National Circuit Barton ACT 2600 | PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris H <[4][FOI #5796 email]>
Sent: Sunday, 27 October 2019 8:47 PM
To: FOI <[5][email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Validity of the Australia Act
introduced in 1986
 
Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
 
I would like to request any information on how and why the Australia Act
1986 is valid and legal because there are some fundamental issues. Some of
these issues include:
 
* The Australia Act 1986 has no head of power. The Head of Power under
'The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900' is the Crown of the
United Kingdom and Ireland.
 
* The Australia Act 1986 was enacted by the "Parliament of Australia"
which is not recognised as a legislator under section 1 of 'The
Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900'.
 
* The Australia Act 1986 was an attempt to equalise powers exclusive to
the Federal Government to that of the States by allowing the States to put
aside any obligations to the inherited laws of England and obligations to
the Federal Government, this attempt was put to the people in question 2
of the 1984 Federal Referendum and failed.
 
Therefore, I would like to know why the Australia Act 1986 has been
introduced and is still in place today. If there are no arguments that
prove the fundamental issues above are wrong, then I strongly suggest you
repeal the Australia Act 1986. 
 
Yours faithfully,
 
Anonymous
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[6][FOI #5796 email]
 
Is [7][DPMC request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information requests
to Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet? If so, please contact us
using this form:
[8]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...
 
This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This
message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet.
More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
[9]https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...
 
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
 
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 

______________________________________________________________________

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. mailto:[DPMC request email]
3. http://www.pmc.gov.au/
4. mailto:[FOI #5796 email]
5. mailto:[email address]
6. mailto:[FOI #5796 email]
7. mailto:[DPMC request email]
8. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/change_re...
9. https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

hide quoted sections

OFFICIAL
Dear Mr H

I refer to your correspondence of 15 November 2019 sent to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department) (as set out below) – our reference FOI/2019/358.

The Department has previously has written to you on this subject matter (refer attached, FOI/2019/319). The Department provided you with information on how to make a valid FOI request and further background information provided by the Attorney-General's Department in relation to the below subject.

The Department will take no further action in relation to this enquiry.

Regards,

FOI Adviser
FOI and Privacy | Legal Policy Branch
Government Division
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
p. +61 2 6271 5849
e. [DPMC request email] |
www.dpmc.gov.au
PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris H <[FOI #5796 email]>
Sent: Friday, 15 November 2019 10:21 PM
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Validity of the Australia Act introduced in 1986

Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,

This request is an application for the purpose of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

I would like to request any information on how and why the Australia Act 1986 is valid and legal because there are some fundamental issues. Some of these issues include:

* The Australia Act 1986 has no head of power. The Head of Power under 'The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900' is the Crown of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

* The Australia Act 1986 was enacted by the "Parliament of Australia" which is not recognised as a legislator under section 1 of 'The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900'.

* The Australia Act 1986 was an attempt to equalise powers exclusive to the Federal Government to that of the States by allowing the States to put aside any obligations to the inherited laws of England and obligations to the Federal Government, this attempt was put to the people in question 2 of the 1984 Federal Referendum and failed.

Therefore, I would like to know why the Australia Act 1986 has been introduced and is still in place today. If there are no arguments that prove the fundamental issues above are wrong, then I strongly suggest you repeal the Australia Act 1986.

Yours faithfully,

Chris H

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #5796 email]

This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://www.righttoknow.org.au/help/offi...

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

______________________________________________________________________

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.
______________________________________________________________________

hide quoted sections