Port Bonython/Era oil spill SA Cabinet documents (1992-93)

Dan Monceaux made this Freedom of Information request to SA Department of the Premier and Cabinet

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

The request was successful.

Dear SA Department of the Premier and Cabinet FOI Officers,

I am writing in response to three outstanding Freedom of Information requests, lodged with your office on 12 April 2016. The three items requested and their respective ministers were:

30/11/92 DMH1594/92TC3 "Port Bonython Oil Spill" Ms Barbara Wiese
07/12/92 DMH1594/92TC3 "Port Bonython Oil Spill" Ms Barbara Wiese
21/06/93 DEP218/92 "First Report on Effects of the "Era" Oil Spill" Mr Kym Mayes

When I received no determination notice regarding these three requests, I initially lodged an internal review with your department via email. After a telephone conversation with one of your staff, I was encouraged to retract that internal review, which I obligingly did.

It is now 22 September, over five months since I lodged my initial requests. As such, I wish to re-initiate the Internal Review process for these missing (assumed refused) determinations, under the Freedom of Information Act 1991.

I also wish to request that my personal details remain as at time of initial application, but that any determination notices or released documents be provided as attachments (not secure download links) to this email address.

Yours sincerely,

Dan Monceaux

Braendler, Fiona (DPC), SA Department of the Premier and Cabinet

Freedom of information application

 

I am writing to acknowledge applications for an internal review under
section 29 of the Freedom of Information Act 1991 (the Act), received from
you on 22 September 2016 by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet
(DPC), in relation to the following applications:

 

DPC File Number Documents Requested
Cabinet Submission
Date: 30/11/1992
Docket: DMH1594/92TC3
Title: Port Bonython Oil Spill
DPC16/1297 Minister: Ms Barbara Wiese
Cabinet Submission
Date: 07/12/1992
Docket: DMH1594/92TC3
Title: Port Bonython Oil Spill
DPC16/1298 Minister: Ms Barbara Wiese
Cabinet Submission
Date: 21/06/1993
Docket: DEP218/92
Title: First Report on Effects of the "Era" Oil Spill
DPC16/1299 Minister: Ms Barbara Wiese

 

In accordance with the Act, DPC has 14 days from the date this application
for internal review was received to deal with the request. A determination
on the application for internal review is therefore due on 6 October 2016.

 

If an internal review determination is not provided by the due date, DPC
will be deemed to have refused access to all documents relevant to the
request. Under subsection 39(2) of the Act, the applicant will be entitled
to exercise their right to apply to the Ombudsman for an external review
of DPC’s deemed refusal. If there are any questions about the external
review process, please contact the Ombudsman’s office on 8226 8699.

 

Regards

Fiona

 

Fiona Braendler
Manager, Freedom of Information

Office of the Chief Executive

Department of the Premier and Cabinet
Level 3, State Administration Centre | GPO Box 2343, ADELAIDE  SA  5001
t 8226 2768 | f 8226 4040 | e [1][email address]

P please consider the environment before printing this email

Information contained in this e-mail message may be confidential and may
also be the subject of legal professional privilege or public interest
immunity.  If you are not the intended recipient, any use, disclosure or
copying of this document is unauthorised.

 

 

 

 

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()

This is an internal review request, made subsequent to three FoI requests made back in April 2016. They were deemed refused, by way of no determination notice being issued.

It has been acknowledged by the Department of the Premier & Cabinet (SA) and a determination notice is expected no later than 6 October 2016.

SA Department of the Premier and Cabinet

 
You have received 2 secure files from [email address].
Use the secure links below to download.
 
 
 
 
 
Secure File Downloads:
Available until: 20 October 2016
 
Click links to download:
 
[1]DPC16-2687 Determination.pdf
2.08 MB, Fingerprint: 1b9986b83bf86e5d9c4dada0140da53b ([2]What is this?)
 
[3]DPC16-2694 Determination.pdf
2.02 MB, Fingerprint: e1183937edde5ee00eec552b1912bf8d ([4]What is this?)
 
You have received attachment link(s) within this email sent via Secure
File Transfer. To retrieve the attachment(s), please click on the link(s).
 

Secured by [5]Accellion

References

Visible links
1. https://www.securefile.sa.gov.au/seos/10...
2. https://www.securefile.sa.gov.au/courier...
3. https://www.securefile.sa.gov.au/seos/10...
4. https://www.securefile.sa.gov.au/courier...
5. http://www.accellion.com/

Dear SA Department of the Premier and Cabinet FOI officers,

Thank you for responding to my request for internal reviews regarding three FoI requests. In my email to you of 22 September 2016, I wrote the following:

"I also wish to request that my personal details remain as at time of initial application, but that any determination notices or released documents be provided as attachments (not secure download links) to this email address."

Could you please provide the files as attachments in your reply to this email, rather than as download link via your secure server?

Yours sincerely,

Dan Monceaux

DPC:FOI Unit, SA Department of the Premier and Cabinet

1 Attachment

  • Attachment

    RE Internal Review confirmation.html

    9K Download

Hi Dan

I responded to your other email address in relation to this better. Please find attached.

Happy to discuss this matter with you.

Kind regards
Fiona

Fiona Braendler
Manager, Freedom of Information
Office of the Chief Executive
Department of the Premier and Cabinet
Level 3, State Administration Centre | GPO Box 2343, ADELAIDE  SA  5001
t 8226 2768 | f 8226 4040 | e [email address]
 please consider the environment before printing this email
Information contained in this e-mail message may be confidential and may also be the subject of legal professional privilege or public interest immunity.  If you are not the intended recipient, any use, disclosure or copying of this document is unauthorised.

show quoted sections

Dear Fiona,

Thanks for drawing my attention to your response to my request to have determinations supplied as email attachments to this address, rather than SecureFile download links. I apologise if I overlooked this previously.

In this particular case, I have chosen to use the website RightToKnow.org.au to lodge my internal reviews as the website publishes determinations it receives directly into the public domain, and hosts them on their website. This is an automated process.

The website is essentially an intermediary, through which my correspondence with you is managed. One of its quirks is this: I cannot see the full email address from which this request for internal review and subsequent messages have been sent.

This quirk has in turn prevented me from being able to download the SecureFile linked documents provided today, which I presume are associated with this new RightToKnow email address.

I would also like to note that I am aware that other people have made FoI applications to your department and have received determinations as email attachments rather than SecureFile download links. I have myself received several documents from your department in the past in this way, so I understand that this is a practical ask (with exception given to particularly large files).

Are you able to reconsider supplying the determinations as .pdf files, attached to an email reply?

If not, could you please reassign the download links to my former, personal email address so that I can download and access them asap?

Thanks for your attention and patience on this matter,

Dan Monceaux

Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()

I note that the 2 files I was sent download links for (via the SA Government's SecureFile delivery system) come to a combined file size of 4.1 MB. As such, this data should be able to be easily supplied as email attachments, as I explicitly requested in the above correspondence.

Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()

Following a telephone conversation with DPC's FOI staff, I informed the department that I would request the deletion of my annotation, as it was considered to misrepresent the turn of events, owing to the following.

The two file download links provided by DPC were sent to this email address in error. They were determination notices for FoI's lodged regarding other matters, and not relevant to the internal reviews requested here.

I sent an email request to RightToKnow administration requesting that all correspondence from 6 October 2016 on this topic be deleted from this website, and after considering their response (and preference for retaining all correspondence on the website) I agreed to add a more detailed explanatory notice as an annotation instead.

The supply of the SecureFile documents was an administrative error on DPC's part, and I made a false assumption that the two files provided were in response to this Internal Review request, given that they were provided on the due date of those internal reviews, and sent to this RightToKnow email address.

No determination notice has been issued yet in response to my internal review requests. As such, I am yet to receive any of the requested documentation and the due date has lapsed.

SA Department of the Premier and Cabinet

 
Please verify your e-mail address
 
 
 
Please click on the following link to verify your e-mail.
[1]https://www.securefile.sa.gov.au/a/wva/L...

This verification link expires in 24 hour(s). Beyond this timeframe, please click
[2]here to request a new verification link.

Thank you for using SA Government SecureFile Service.
 

Secured by [3]Accellion

References

Visible links
1. https://www.securefile.sa.gov.au/a/wva/L...
2. https://www.securefile.sa.gov.au/a/wva/L...
3. http://www.accellion.com/

SA Department of the Premier and Cabinet

 
You have received 1 secure file from [email address].
Use the secure link below to download.
 
 
 
 
 
Secure File Downloads:
Available until: 27 October 2016
 
Click link to download:
 
[1]DPC16-1299 Internal Review Determination.pdf
5.61 MB, Fingerprint: b6529b249c162ef7bccbfd1e6290d6bc ([2]What is this?)
 
You have received attachment link(s) within this email sent via Secure
File Transfer. To retrieve the attachment(s), please click on the link(s).
 

Secured by [3]Accellion

References

Visible links
1. https://www.securefile.sa.gov.au/seos/10...
2. https://www.securefile.sa.gov.au/courier...
3. http://www.accellion.com/

Mark R. Diamond left an annotation ()

The request has been marked as "successful" but the documents were supplied through a secure website of the South Australian government and not by attaching them to an email to the applicant. The applicant appears to have tried very hard to prevent this from happening, but it has. Consequently, none of the documents are accessible through Right to Know.

It would be a great pity if this scenario played out with more request!

Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()

For the benefit of Mark and any other interested RTK users, I have only received one of the three Internal Reviews requested at present. I have been informed that results on the others are pending.

I am in discussions with DPC regarding the provision of those documents via email to this address. The Department so far has elected to use its SecureFile delivery system. I hope that this will change in time, but I may need to negotiate this again, after the documentation has first been received via the department's preferred delivery method.

Thanks for your interest in this subject.

Braendler, Fiona (DPC), SA Department of the Premier and Cabinet

3 Attachments

 

Good afternoon Dan

 

Please find attached internal review determinations related to your FOI
applications under the ’10 Year Rule’.

 

Date Departmental Docket Cabinet Submission Title Minister
Number
30/11/1992 DMH1594/92TC3 Port Bonython Oil Spill Ms Barbara Wiese
07/12/1992 DMF1594/92TC3 Port Bonython Oil Spill Ms Barbara Wiese

 

Please also find attached a copy of the internal review previously sent to
Right to Know via SecureFile related to the following FOI application
under the ‘10 Year Rule’, originally provided to you on October 13 2016.

 

Date Departmental Docket Cabinet Submission Title Minister
Number
21/06/1993 DEP218/92 First Report on Effects of the Mr Kym Mayes
“Era” Oil Spill

 

I have provided this to you again as a matter of courtesy. Although
notations on the RightToKnow website seem to suggest that we were
unwilling to accommodate your request to not use SecureFile to send
determinations, please note that SecureFile continued to be used only
after receiving the following advice from you: “I was able to use the
RightToKnow email address to access to lig [sic] in to SecureFile and
download the two files which has been incorrectly sent to that address. As
such, I would be happy to receive the files resulting from any the
internal reviews on this subject the same way”.

Kind regards

Fiona

 

Fiona Braendler
Manager, Freedom of Information

Office of the Chief Executive

Department of the Premier and Cabinet
Level 3, State Administration Centre | GPO Box 2343, ADELAIDE  SA  5001
t 8226 2768 | f 8226 4040 | e [1][email address]

P please consider the environment before printing this email

Information contained in this e-mail message may be confidential and may
also be the subject of legal professional privilege or public interest
immunity.  If you are not the intended recipient, any use, disclosure or
copying of this document is unauthorised.

 

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

Dear Fiona,

Thank you for providing determinations to my three Internal Reviews as attachments to emails rather than secure downloads. I will read the released documents with great interest.

Yours sincerely,

Dan Monceaux