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July 15th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda 
State Government Freedom of Information adviser Don Coulson was singled out for criticism by Judge Jenkins.
Source: Herald Sun
THE Sunday Herald Sun has won its bid to have the work diary of Premier Ted Baillieu’s former chief of staff ruled a public document in a precedent-setting decision which significantly expands the range of material available under Freedom of Information laws.
In a blow to attempts by the premier’s office to keep the diary of Mr Baillieu’s former right-hand-man Michael Kapel under wraps, VCAT last week ruled the document, which covers a key period in the Victorian police leadership crisis of early 2011, is an official document of a minister and does relate to the affairs of a government agency.
The fallout from the crisis continues to reverberate through the state’s political landscape, with Liberal MP Bill Tilley – who was demoted during the upheaval – last week calling for Police Minister Peter Ryan to be stripped of his position.
Deciding the case, County Court judge and VCAT vice-president Pamela Jenkins ruled the diary’s contents “clearly includes material relevant to the premier’s exercise of his functions in his various ministerial capacities”.
Judge Jenkins also singled out the government’s top FoI adviser Don Coulson for pointed criticism, questioning whether he viewed the document before making his decision as suggested in his letter refusing access.
She said it was “inexcusable” he did not contact Mr Kapel or his secretary to determine the nature of the diary before denying access to it.
An earlier VCAT session was told Mr Coulson did not view the diary before ruling it out of FoI bounds.
Judge Jenkins said the diary should have been produced to the tribunal at the start of the hearing as instructed, an order the premier’s office originally failed to comply with.
In her reasons, Judge Jenkins ruled the contents of a document ultimately determine if it should be made public, not whether it originated or was ever provided to a government agency or if a minister ever accessed it.
The win for the Sunday Herald Sun does not mean it has access to the electronic diary.
Rather, the premier’s office has been ordered to process the paper’s original FoI request in light of the ruling.
The premier’s office has indicated it will continue to fight the case.
Judge Jenkins, who viewed the diary as part of the hearing, also noted a week of the month-long period the paper has applied to view is blank.
Government spokesman Paul Price said: “The Government will carefully consider the Tribunal’s decision and will decide whether to appeal on the point of high legal principle involved.”
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