After telling Rex Patrick his PM’s Diary FOI request would be processed for $1,344, and after Rex paid the deposit, the Prime Minister’s Office has backflipped and is now refusing to process the request for 29 pages on the grounds that doing so “would substantially and unreasonable interfere with the performance of the [Prime] Minister’s functions”. What’s the scam?
“If 29 pages were the quantum used to trigger a ‘knock back’ of an FOI request, this new move would all but shut down the Federal FOI scheme. Albanese is starting to make Morrison look like a transparency saint,” Rex told the MWM.
“The attached letter to your email is very unusual and confusing in that, after the PMO has decided to impose a charge (a reviewable decision) to proceed with the request, and the deposit has been paid by the applicant, it makes a second reviewable decision contrary to the intent of charges decision (and inconsistent with the process published by the OAIC).
“On the basis of the charges decision (which I will utilise in any submissions to the Information Commissioner), the authorities, and the fact that I’m only after what amounts to 29 pages, I do not intend to limit the scope. The PMO should perhaps reconsider its position, but otherwise affirms its s24 decision such that it can be subject to independent challenge.”
What they said Monday night:
What they said last night:
What Rex said this morning: “The change inside the Prime Minister’s Office in the last 48 hours is nothing short of unbelievable. They either don’t know what they’re doing, or they know exactly what they are doing”.
Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.