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Rebecca White and the Premier of Tasmania
On 28 July 2023 Ms Rebecca White, the then leader of the State Opposition, submitted an assessed disclosure application under the Right to Information Act 2009 (the Act) to the Office of the Premier. Ms White requested copies of any correspondence to or from the Premier or his office about the proposed New Norfolk Distillery or Willow Court since 1 July 2022.
On 20 September 2023, Ms White sought external review under s45(1)(f) of the Act as she had not received a decision within the statutory timeframe.
On 31 October 2023, the Premier’s delegate issued a decision to Ms White. The Premier’s delegate identified 14 relevant documents and held that some of this information was exempt from disclosure pursuant to ss35, 36, and 39 of the Act.
Upon completing this external review, the Ombudsman determined that:
- exemptions claimed pursuant to ss35 and 39 were not made out; and
- exemptions claimed pursuant to s36 should be varied.
Rebecca White and the Premier of Tasmania (PDF, 298.5 KB)
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Rebecca White and the Premier of Tasmania
On 9 May 2023, the Honourable Ms Rebecca White MP submitted an assessed disclosure application under the Right to Information Act 2009 (the Act) to the Office of the Premier seeking information relating to correspondence between the Premier or any of his staff with the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Sarah Bolt.
The application was initially refused but a fresh decision was eventually issued on 16 January 2024, following intervention from Ombudsman Tasmania. A delegate of the Premier, having identified six items of information responsive to Ms White’s application, determined that three of these items were exempt pursuant to sections 36 and 39 of the Act.
On 22 January 2024, Ms White sought external review of this decision.
The Ombudsman determined that exemptions claimed pursuant to ss36 and 39 should be varied.
Rebecca White and the Premier of Tasmania (PDF, 199.4 KB)
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Bob Burton and the Premier of Tasmania
On 15 December 2020, the Commonwealth and Tasmanian Governments signed a Commonwealth-Tasmania Bilateral Energy and Emissions Reduction Agreement Memorandum of Understanding (the MOU).
On 18 December 2020, Mr Bob Burton applied under the Right to Information Act 2009 (the Act) to the Tasmanian Premier for a copy of the MOU as well as any records and/or communication plans relating to the announcement of the MOU.
On 29 January 2021, Mr Burton received a decision. As the MOU was publicly available, Mr Burton was provided with an electronic link to the document. With regard to records of the announcement of the MOU, six records were identified as being responsive to Mr Burton’s application. Four documents were claimed to be exempt in full pursuant to s35 as internal deliberative information and two documents were claimed to be partially exempt pursuant to s36 as containing personal information of another person.
Mr Burton sought external review. The Ombudsman found that exemptions under s35 should be varied and that exemptions under s36 were not made out.
Bob Burton and the Premier of Tasmania (PDF, 221.1 KB)
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Rebecca White and the Premier of Tasmania
On 18 July 2023, the Honourable Rebecca White MP submitted an application for assessed disclosure under the Right to Information Act 2009 (the Act) to the Office of the Premier. She sought information regarding the appointment of Danielle McKay to the Office of the Premier. The request was comprised of three parts.
No information responsive to parts two and three of Ms White’s application was located by the Premier’s delegate, while some information responsive to part one of Ms White’s application was deemed to be exempt pursuant to ss35 (internal deliberative information and 36 (personal information) of the Act. Ms White sought external review of this decision.
On external review, the Ombudsman determined that Premier’s delegate was entitled to decide that information requested was not in the Premier’s possession, and that exemptions claimed under ss35 and 36 should be varied.
Rebecca White and the Premier of Tasmania (PDF, 164.1 KB)