Documents relating to the request or arrangement for payment of grants and/or funding by the Commonwealth to Foxtel Cable Television Pty Limited or Austar Entertainment Pty Ltd
Richard Smith made this Freedom of Information request to Minister for Communications
This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.
Dear Minister for Communications,
I hereby request the following Government Information documents, either sent or received by you acting in your official capacity as Federal Minister of Communications, which I consider to be of great public importance, as follows:
a) Documents detailing any correspondence received within the period between 22 Sep 2015 and 10 August 2017 from Foxtel Cable Television Pty Limited (including its owners, agents and/or contractors) to the Minister of Communications requesting the payment of moneys (either compensation or grants or funding) by the Commonwealth to Foxtel Cable Television Pty Limited;
b) Documents detailing any correspondence received within the period between 22 Sep 2015 and 10 August 2017 from Austar Entertainment Pty Ltd (including its owners, agents and/or contractors) to the Minister of Communications requesting the payment of moneys (either compensation or grants or funding) by the Commonwealth to Austar Entertainment Pty Ltd;
c) Documents detailing any correspondence sent within the period between 22 Sep 2015 and 10 August 2017 from the Minister of Communications to Foxtel Cable Television Pty Limited (including its owners, agents and/or contractors) concerning the payment of moneys (either compensation or grants or funding) by the Commonwealth to Foxtel Cable Television Pty Limited;
d) Documents detailing any correspondence sent within the period between 22 Sep 2015 and 10 August 2017 from the Minister of Communications to Austar Entertainment Pty Ltd (including its owners, agents and/or contractors) concerning the payment of moneys (either compensation or grants or funding) by the Commonwealth to Austar Entertainment Pty Ltd.
For the avoidance of doubt, my request for Documents above also includes copies of any correspondence described in each of my requests a) through d).
To assist you in processing my request, I advise that this request is similar, but not identical, to a request I have made today to the Department of Communications and the Arts. This may allow you to direct your staff to facilitate the processing of my two requests in a more efficient manner.
If this can be answered as an informal request, please do so.
Otherwise, please proceed with this as a formal request under the Freedom of Information principles & framework, i.e. the Freedom of Information Act 1982 & other associated guidelines and regulations.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Smith
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Smith,
I refer to your email dated 10 August seeking access under the Freedom of
Information Act 1982 (FOI Act) directed to the Minister for
Communications.
The scope of your request is unclear and does not satisfy the requirements
of section 15(2)(b) of the FOI Act as you have not provided such
information as is reasonably necessary to identify the documents within
scope.
As advised in our email to you dated 21 August 2017 (sent to:
[1][email address]) should you wish to
proceed with an FOI request directed to the Minister, you will need to
ensure that it complies with the requirements of section 15(2) of the FOI
Act and send it to the email below: [2][email address].
If you require any further information, or would like to discuss this
request, please do not hesitate to contact me by return email or telephone
(02) 6271 1277.
Yours sincerely
[3]cid:C4234CC5-D32A-44FF-A754-F96227B373F7
FOI Coordinator / Information Law Section / Office of the General
Counsel
Department of Communications and the Arts
P +61 2 6271 1277
E [Minister for Communications request email]
GPO Box 2154 Canberra ACT 2601
[4]communications.gov.au
[5]cid:17F0759F-5B67-41BB-B991-66700A2CA00A [6]@CommsAu
[7]arts.gov.au
[8]cid:17F0759F-5B67-41BB-B991-66700A2CA00A [9]@artsculturegov
This email and any attachments may contain confidential information or
legal advice over which legal professional privilege can be claimed. Such
privilege is not waived and you should ensure that, in the handling of the
advice, you avoid waiving privilege. Please consult the author of the
advice if unsure about appropriate handling.
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Dear FOI Coordinator,
Thank you for your reply of 21 August 2017 regarding my request for the release of government information.
I have considered the points that you have raised in your letter.
I disagree with your assessment and reaffirm my opinion that my request was valid under the Act.
However, notwithstanding this, I have decided that rather than duplicate our correspondence and increase the workload for the Department, I will await the Department's response to my letter of 21 August 2017 relating to my FOI request to the Department before taking further action on this FOI, similar but not identical, request to the Minister.
Yours sincerely,
Richard Smith
Dear FOI,
I write to draw your attention to a request to the Department of Communications and the Arts for Government Information under the FOI Act (Department of Communications and the Arts reference: FOI 17-1718).
The scope of this request is similar to the scope of this request, and as such, to avoid unnecessary duplication of the Department's time, I had requested no further action be taken on this request while that of FOI 17-1718 was progressed.
I believe that the FOI request to the Department has been suitably progressed to the stage where the amendments made to the scope can be applied to this request to the Minister.
To assist the Minister, a record of all of the correspondence relating to my other FOI request to the department is available on the internet at: http://www.righttoknow.org.au/request/do...
Accordingly, I wish for my request for Government Information to the Minister to be progressed.
Yours sincerely,
Richard Smith
UNCLASSIFIED
Dear Mr Smith,
Thank you for your email.
Please note that FOI requests for access to documents held by the Minister
for Communications and the Arts are processed by the Minister’s office and
therefore, as advised in our emails to you dated 21 August 2017, your
request should be directed to the Minister and sent to the email below:
[1][email address].
When submitting your request to the Minister, you should ensure that your
email includes a clear description of the documents that you are seeking
access to.
Yours sincerely
[2]cid:C4234CC5-D32A-44FF-A754-F96227B373F7
FOI Coordinator / Information Law Section / Office of the General
Counsel
Department of Communications and the Arts
P +61 2 6271 1277
E [Minister for Communications request email]
GPO Box 2154 Canberra ACT 2601
[3]communications.gov.au
[4]cid:17F0759F-5B67-41BB-B991-66700A2CA00A [5]@CommsAu
[6]arts.gov.au
[7]cid:17F0759F-5B67-41BB-B991-66700A2CA00A [8]@artsculturegov
This email and any attachments may contain confidential information or
legal advice over which legal professional privilege can be claimed. Such
privilege is not waived and you should ensure that, in the handling of the
advice, you avoid waiving privilege. Please consult the author of the
advice if unsure about appropriate handling.
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