Correspondence between the Department or Minister and Croplife concerning glyphosate

Nick Haines made this Freedom of Information request to Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning

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

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning,

Under the Victorian Freedom of Information Act I request copies of all written correspondence including emails between the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning or the Victorian Environment Minister and:
- Croplife Australia
- or, Hawker Britton
- or, Bayer Australia Ltd

Which contain references to:
- glyphosate
- or, Roundup
- or, the Victorian Government's review of the use of products containing glyphosate

Between the dates of March 1 2019 and June 24 2019.

I also request the dates of any meetings between the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning or the Victorian Environment Minister and the above parties within the same search period along with any notes or minutes from these meetings.

Yours faithfully,
Nick Haines

Foi Unit (DELWP),

1 Attachment

Dear Sir,

I refer to your email below and wish to advise that the Freedom of Information Act 1982 requires the payment of an application fee unless payment would cause financial hardship.

The current application fee is $28.90.

If you wish to proceed with your request, please complete and return the attached payment form or provide information about how payment of the application fee would cause you financial hardship, including evidence such as a copy of a healthcare or pension card.

Alternately, FOI requests can be lodged online and payment of the fee made by credit card at the following website: https://online.foi.vic.gov.au/foi/reques...

Please also note additional charges may be made for the time taken to search for documents in relation to a request. Search time is charged at the rate of $21.70 per hour.
Any photocopied documents are charged at the rate of 20 cents for each A4 size page. If the fees are likely to exceed $50.00 then we will contact you again to provide you with an estimate of the likely charges and seek your views on continuing or amending your request.

I can be contacted on the below telephone number or by email if you need to discuss further.

Regards,
Stuart

Stuart Atkins, Manager FOI & Privacy, Legal and Governance Division
Corporate Services | Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
Level 15, 8 Nicholson Street. East Melbourne, Victoria
Mailing address: PO Box 500, East Melbourne Vic 8002
T: (03) 9637 8331 | E: [email address]

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Dear Foi Unit (DELWP),

I have paid the $28.90 application fee via bPay. The receipt number is 669928. I was unable to complete the pdf form you attached because I was not given a reference number to include.

Yours sincerely,

Nick Haines

Dear Foi Unit (DELWP),

As per my email on June 27 I have paid the application fee but have not yet received confirmation of this or an update on the status of my request. Could you please confirm receipt of payment and advise on the status of my request?

Yours sincerely,

Nick Haines

Foi Unit (DELWP),

Hi Nick,

Thank you for your email.

Your application fee has been received. Thank you.

I am currently processing your request. I will contact you if any clarification is required.

Regards
Veronica

Veronica Finn| Senior Freedom of Information Officer |Legal and Governance Division
Corporate Services | Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
Level 15, 8 Nicholson Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000
T: 03 9637 9510| E: [email address]

Please note I work Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays

  Please consider the environment before printing this email.

show quoted sections

Veronica J Finn (DELWP),

10 Attachments

Dear Mr Haines

I refer to your request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI
Act), received  25 June seeking access to: 

“copies of all written correspondence including emails between the
Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning or the Victorian
Environment Minister and:

Croplife Australia

or, Hawker Britton

or, Bayer Australia Ltd

 

Which contain references to:

glyphosate

or, Roundup

or, the Victorian Government's review of the use of products containing
glyphosate

 

Between the dates of March 1 2019 and June 24 2019.

 

I also request the dates of any meetings between the Department
of Environment, Land, Water and Planning or the Victorian
Environment Minister and the above parties within the same search period
along with any notes or minutes from these meetings.”

 

I note that in processing your request, consultation of third parties with
respect to commercial information (section 34(1) of the FOI Act) and
confidential information (section 35 of the FOI Act) will be required to
determine whether the documents sought are exempt.

In accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act, the department has extended
the period within which to notify you of its decision by 15 calendar days
from 29 July to 12 August 2019.

I also note that in processing your request, consultation of third parties
with respect to personal affairs information may be required to determine
whether the document sought are exempt.

With respect to personal information, under section 33(3) of the FOI Act,
if practicable, I must consult with the third parties who have personal
information contained in the documents. If consultation occurs and I
determine that it is reasonable to release the personal information and
the third party does not agree to the information being released, I will
need to provide “reverse FOI rights” to the third party. This means that
the agency cannot release the documents to the applicant until a 60 day
appeal period has concluded.

                

Can you please advise whether you would consider allowing us to remove
personal affairs information from the documents (such as names, titles and
contact information). This would mean that we would not need to provide
the above appeal period and may speed up the process of providing you with
documents.

 

If you have any questions, please contact me on the details below.

Regards

Veronica

 

Veronica Finn| Senior Freedom of Information Officer |Legal and Governance
Division

Corporate Services | Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning

Level 15, 8 Nicholson Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000
T: 03 9637 9510| E: [1][email address]

 

Please note I work Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays

 

 

[2][IMG][3][IMG][4][IMG][5][IMG][6][IMG][7][IMG][8]Title: FaceBook -
Description: Link to DELPW's FaceBook links

 

 

 

P  Please consider the environment before printing this email.

 

References

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2. https://www2.delwp.vic.gov.au/aboriginal...
3. https://www2.delwp.vic.gov.au/
4. https://www.instagram.com/delwp_vic/
5. https://www.youtube.com/c/DELWPVicGovAus...
6. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...
7. https://twitter.com/DELWP_Vic
8. https://www2.delwp.vic.gov.au/media-cent...

Hi Veronica,

Thanks for your response.

I'm inclined to say yes, I am happy for you to remove personal affairs information. But before I do can you please clarify how this would be presented? For instance would it still be possible to determine which company the redacted individual worked for?

Yours sincerely,

Nick Haines

Veronica J Finn (DELWP),

Hi Nick,

Thank your email. Yes, it would only be the personal identifying information that would be redacted. That is, information such as a name, position title or direct contact number which identifies the individual. The name of the company or other agency (eg department) where the individual worked would not be redacted.

Regards
Veronica

Veronica Finn| Senior Freedom of Information Officer |Legal and Governance Division
Corporate Services | Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
Level 15, 8 Nicholson Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000
T: 03 9637 9510| E: [email address]

Please note I work Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays

  Please consider the environment before printing this email.

show quoted sections

Thanks Veronica. In that case I am happy for personally identifying information to be redacted.

Yours sincerely,

Nick Haines

Veronica J Finn (DELWP),

10 Attachments

Hi Nick,

 

Please find attached a copy of the decision in response to your FOI
request. Can you please provide an address or email address so that I can
send the document to you.

 

Regards

Veronica

 

Veronica Finn| Senior Freedom of Information Officer |Legal and Governance
Division

Corporate Services | Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning

Level 15, 8 Nicholson Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000
T: 03 9637 9510| E: [1][email address]

 

Please note I work Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays

 

 

[2][IMG][3][IMG][4][IMG][5][IMG][6][IMG][7][IMG][8]Title: FaceBook -
Description: Link to DELPW's FaceBook links

 

 

 

P  Please consider the environment before printing this email.

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. https://www2.delwp.vic.gov.au/aboriginal...
3. https://www2.delwp.vic.gov.au/
4. https://www.instagram.com/delwp_vic/
5. https://www.youtube.com/c/DELWPVicGovAus...
6. https://www.linkedin.com/company/departm...
7. https://twitter.com/DELWP_Vic
8. https://www2.delwp.vic.gov.au/media-cent...

Thanks Veronica. My email address is [email address]

Yours sincerely,

Nick Haines