Disclosure log

This request refers to the recent decision of the Department not to grant FOI access to documents showing:

a)          how the purported extract from the 2017-18 Annual Report of the City of Sydney pertaining to travel costs came into the Minister’s possession and 
b)          talking points prepared by the prime minister’s office or the minister’s office and/or the Minister’s department for use by the minister between 24 and 25th October.
For clarity, this request does not seek access to any of those documents themselves. 

Specifically, this request does seek access to any documents outlining why the decision to refuse access, which is reported to have included a determination that the requests concerned a deliberative processes relating to an agency or minister’s functions (a Conditional Exemption), must, under the FOI Act’s provisions, also have included a determination that the request failed to meet the additional required public interest test.

The documents sought are those explaining the grounds for this apparent failure of the public interest test, which the FOI Act explicitly describes as including the scrutiny of government and informing debate amongst reasons why access should be granted, and which the Act explicitly describes as disallowing embarrassment to or loss of confidence in the government being taken into account.

[Item 1] Information and/or briefings regarding the compliance action against Jam Land Pty Ltd supplied by the department to Josh Frydenberg or his office on the following dates: February 15, 2017, February 16 2017, February 21, 2017, March 7 2017 and August 3 2017. In seeking this I request the following: any briefing or information supplied on those dates and the attached correspondence, any internal departmental correspondence relating to the preparation of this information (including emails to and from staff), any requests from the Minister or his office for this information - in the form of emails, phone messages or notes from meetings - and any follow up correspondence from either the Minister, his staff, or staff in the department once the information had been supplied. Please note, when I state correspondence from department staff I am referring to both internal correspondence between department staff and correspondence with the Minister's office.

For your reference, I include links to additional documents for the senate inquiry into the faunal extinction crisis where the relevant dates have been supplied by the department in document 5 and document 7.

Additional Documents

[Item 2] Any documents that record the dates and/or full attendance list for any meetings or site visits with Jam Land and/or its representatives, including, but not limited to, a meeting in March 2017. I include department staff, any ministers or MPs, and any member of the Taylor family in this request. I also include internal departmental correspondence discussing any of the above.

[Item 3] Any documentation of contact by Angus Taylor with the department about the Jam Land compliance action. This includes phone messages/notes from phone calls, meeting records, emails and/or letters, diary entries or visits to the department as well as internal department correspondence referencing such contact.

[Item 4] Any internal department correspondence regarding company searches, ASIC searches and other record searches related to Jam Land Pty Ltd and any associated companies.

[Item 5] Any documents that proposed, considered and/or briefed changes to condition thresholds for the natural temperate grassland of the south-eastern highlands. Please restrict the date range to November 18 2016 - November 1 2018. I include all drafts in this request. I also request department correspondence related to the preparation of such documents.

• The final decision brief in relation to providing funding to Evie Networks for their proposed EV charging network
• Any additional briefing that relates to announcing the funding
• Correspondence with Trevor St Baker or affiliates of Evie Networks in relation to the announcement of the funding
• Documents that describe the draft and final conditions of funding for the Evie Networks project (from December 2018 to present)
• Documents that consider the benefit of the Evie Networks project in the context of, or in comparison to, the Chargefox project.
   

I would like, under the FOI Act, to be provided with all documents, emails and briefing notes from within the date range 1 August 2019 to 12 November 2019 provided by the Federal Department of the Environment and Energy to the Prime Minister, his office or the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet which offer advice on Australia's emissions trajectory or on whether Australia is meeting and will meet its Paris emission reduction targets.

Photos and film footage of removal of climbing chain and summit cairn from Uluru in October-November 2019.

The applicant requested copies of documents in relation to the IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 ⁰C above pre-industrial levels.

Six documents were released in part with deletions under s47F(1).

To request access to the material contact the FOI Officer.

1. The decision brief (including attachments) for the variation to EPBC 2008/4208 made on 26 October 2017.

2. Briefs that relate to revised Coastal Offset Strategy/ies provided by Inpex since 26 October 2017.

1. A copy of the Decision Brief re EPBC no. 2018/8208, excluding all attachments except the signed decision notice, signed letter to the proponent and summary of public comments.

2. Responses/ Submissions from South Australian Department of Environment and Water (DEW) to the Department of the Environment and Energy regarding EPBC no. 2018/8208.

3. Communications between the Department of the Environment and Energy and DEW regarding EPBC no. 2018/8208.

4. What additional information and/or surveys has the Department of the Environment and Energy requested RES AUSTRALIA/EBS Ecology/ to provide?

Date range: 1 July 2017 to 8 November 2019.

Key documents that show how the following figures (of $300 million, 3½ years and 1,401 days) were calculated in the Minister’s media release for the EPBC Act review on 29 October 2019 (Appendix 1) and the Minister’s op-ed in the Australian Financial Review, 3 November 2019 (Appendix 2):

• “Delays in EPBC decisions are estimated to cost the economy around $300 million a year”
• “The average approval time for a major project referred under the EPBC Act at present is estimated at 3½ years. Cutting these approval times could save business more than $300 million a year.”
• “In the past four years, 1,401 days have been spent on court cases over applications, including before the Federal Court and even the High Court.”

Note: I do not request all documents related to these statements or the media release or op-ed. I only request the key documents that show the basis for the calculation of these figures. If the figures are based on particular EPBC Act referrals or court cases, a list of the referrals or court cases would be sufficient to satisfy the request.
 

The applicant requested documents in relation to export of goods in June 2017.

Two documents were released in full. Three documents were released in part with deletions under s47F(1). One document was refused release under s37(2)(b), and s47F(1).

To request access to the material contact the FOI Officer.