Letters between Gough Whitlam PM and Buckingham Palace

William Summers made this Freedom of Information request to Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

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, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

William Summers

Dear FOI team

Under the terms of the FOI Act I am writing to request:

Copies of all letters between Prime Minister Gough Whitlam (5 Dec 1972 – 11 Nov 1975) and i) the Queen ii) Prince Charles. This should also include correspondence with staff in their respective offices (e.g. Private Secretaries).

I look forward to your response in due course.

Best wishes
William Summers

FOI, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

1 Attachment

UNCLASSIFIED

Our reference: FOI/2017/004

 

Dear Mr Summers

 

Thank you for your email dated 9 January 2017 received by the Department
of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department), in which you made a
request to the Department under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the
FOI Act) in the following terms:

 

‘Copies of all letters between Prime Minister Gough Whitlam (5 Dec 1972 –
11 Nov 1975) and i) the Queen ii) Prince Charles. This should also include
correspondence with staff in their respective offices (e.g. Private
Secretaries). ’

 

Timeframe for receiving your decision

 

We received your request on 9 January 2017 and the 30 day statutory period
for processing your request commenced from the day after that date. You
should therefore expect a decision from us by Wednesday 8 February 2017.
The period of 30 days may be extended in certain circumstances. We will
advise you if there is any extension of time.

 

Charges

 

Agencies may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a charge in respect
of a request for access to documents. If the Department decides that you
are liable to pay a charge, we will send you a preliminary assessment of
the charge as soon as possible.

 

Publication of documents

 

Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be
published online on our disclosure log at
[1]http://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/accountabilit...,
subject to certain exceptions. If you think you might wish to raise any
objections to the publication of any of the information which may be
released to you please contact us by email at [2][DPMC request email].  If you
do wish to object to the publication of information, you would need to
provide supporting reasons.

 

Exclusion of officers’ names and contact details

 

For documents that fall within scope of the request, it is the
Department’s policy to withhold:

·         any person’s signature;

·         the names and contact details of Australian Public Service
officers not in the Senior Executive Service (SES);

·         the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers;

·         the names and contact details of Ministerial staff at a level
below Chief of Staff.

 

The names and other details of SES officers will not be withheld unless
there is some reason for that information to be exempt from release. If
you require signatures, the names and contact details of non-SES officers
or Ministerial staff below the level of Chief of Staff, or the mobile or
direct numbers of SES officers please let us know at [3][DPMC 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 (that
is, the information will be treated as irrelevant and redacted from any
documents for release).

 

We will write again when the Department has more information. Further
information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the Office of
the Australian Information Commissioner at
[4]http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_....

 

Yours sincerely

 

FOI Adviser

Access and Administrative Review Section | Honours, Symbols and Legal
Policy Branch

Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. 02 6271 5849

e. [5][DPMC request email]

[6]www.pmc.gov.au

PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600

[7]Description: Description: Description: FOI design element

 

 

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/accountabilit...
2. mailto:[DPMC request email]
3. mailto:[DPMC request email]
4. http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_...
5. mailto:[DPMC request email]
6. http://www.pmc.gov.au/

FOI, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

1 Attachment

UNCLASSIFIED

Our reference: FOI/2017/005

 

Dear Mr Summers

 

Thank you for your email dated 9 January 2017 received by the Department
of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the Department), in which you made a
request to the Department under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the
FOI Act) in the following terms:

 

Copies of all letters between Prime Minister Paul Keating (20 Dec 1991 –
11 Mar 1996) and i) the Queen ii) Prince Charles. This should also include
correspondence with their respective offices (e.g. Private Secretaries).

 

Timeframe for receiving your decision

 

We received your request on 9 January 2017 and the 30 day statutory period
for processing your request commenced from the day after that date. You
should therefore expect a decision from us by Wednesday 8 February 2017.
The period of 30 days may be extended in certain circumstances. We will
advise you if there is any extension of time.

 

Charges

 

Agencies may decide that an applicant is liable to pay a charge in respect
of a request for access to documents. If the Department decides that you
are liable to pay a charge, we will send you a preliminary assessment of
the charge as soon as possible.

 

Publication of documents

 

Please note that information released under the FOI Act may later be
published online on our disclosure log at
[1]http://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/accountabilit...,
subject to certain exceptions. If you think you might wish to raise any
objections to the publication of any of the information which may be
released to you please contact us by email at [2][DPMC request email].  If you
do wish to object to the publication of information, you would need to
provide supporting reasons.

 

Exclusion of officers’ names and contact details

 

For documents that fall within scope of the request, it is the
Department’s policy to withhold:

·         any person’s signature;

·         the names and contact details of Australian Public Service
officers not in the Senior Executive Service (SES);

·         the mobile or direct numbers of SES officers;

·         the names and contact details of Ministerial staff at a level
below Chief of Staff.

 

The names and other details of SES officers will not be withheld unless
there is some reason for that information to be exempt from release. If
you require signatures, the names and contact details of non-SES officers
or Ministerial staff below the level of Chief of Staff, or the mobile or
direct numbers of SES officers please let us know at [3][DPMC 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 (that
is, the information will be treated as irrelevant and redacted from any
documents for release).

 

We will write again when the Department has more information. Further
information on FOI processing can be found at the website of the Office of
the Australian Information Commissioner at
[4]http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_....

 

Yours sincerely

 

FOI Adviser

Access and Administrative Review Section | Honours, Symbols and Legal
Policy Branch

Government Division | Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

p. 02 6271 5849

e. [5][DPMC request email]

[6]www.pmc.gov.au

PO Box 6500 CANBERRA ACT 2600

[7]Description: Description: Description: FOI design element

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/accountabilit...
2. mailto:[DPMC request email]
3. mailto:[DPMC request email]
4. http://www.oaic.gov.au/foi-portal/about_...
5. mailto:[DPMC request email]
6. http://www.pmc.gov.au/

Irene Nicolaou,

1 Attachment

Our reference: RQ17/00561

Agency reference: FOI/2017/004

Mr William Summers

 

By email: [1][FOI #2934 email]

Dear Mr Summers

Extension of time request under s15AB

On 8 February 2017, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (the
Department) requested further time to make a decision on your FOI request
of 9 January 2017.

This request was on the basis that the processing period is insufficient
to deal adequately with your request, because it is complex or voluminous.

Information Commissioner has decided to grant Department an extension of
time to process your request to 14 February 2017. This decision has been
made under s15AB(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (the FOI
Act).

By granting further time it is anticipated that the Department will
provide a well-reasoned and better managed decision.

Contact

If you have any questions regarding this email please contact me on 1300
363 992 or via email [email address]. Please quote OAIC
reference number RQ17/00561 in all correspondence.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Irene Nicolaou | A/g Investigation and Review Officer | Freedom of
Information Dispute Resolution

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

Level 3, 175 Pitt Street, SYDNEY NSW 2000

GPO Box 5128 SYDNEY NSW 2001| [2]www.oaic.gov.au

Phone:  1300 363 992 | E-mail: [3][email address]

 

Protecting information rights – advancing information policy

 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #2934 email]
2. http://www.oaic.gov.au/
3. mailto:[email address]