Freedom of information request in response to PPRUNE post 1109
Dear Sir/Madam,
I would like to make a Freedom of Information Request in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Could those documents if released be sent to via my return email address.
On Wednesday 5th August, I received the correspondence below from Mr. Colin McLachlan who is the Board Secretariat for the Board of CASA.
This was in response to an email that I had sent to Ms. Donna Hardman who is a new member of the Board of CASA.
I have previously raised substantial allegations against the conduct of Mr. Jonathan Aleck who acts in the role of CASA Executive Manager of Legal, International, and Regulatory Affairs. I am of the opinion that the Chairperson of the Board of CASA is deliberately frustrating my attempts to resolve this matter and may be complicit in thwarting my attempts to obtain a fair and transparent process.
My correspondence was specifically addressed to Ms. Hardman and my reasonable expectation was that I would receive a response from her.
I am concerned that either Mr. Anthony Mathews as the Chair of the CASA board or perhaps Mr. Aleck who the allegations were against, may have prepared that response on her behalf, and potentailly without her consent or knowledge.
I say that because it is unlikely that someone of Ms Hardmans credentials would make a decision that limits her ability to ensure the good governace of CASA.
To satisfy myself that Mr. Mathews or Mr. Aleck are not acting inappropriately, I am making an FOI request.
That request specifically relates to any correspondence between Ms. Donna Hardman, Mr. Anthony Mathews, Mr. Jonathan Aleck and Mr. Colin McLachlan that relate to that prepared response.
It would not be the role of the Board Secretariat to prepare that response without guidance from those named parties. By obtaining those related emails it will clarify the intent of the CASA actions. It will also clarify whether Mr. Jonathan Aleck had any input which I feel would be entirely unreasonable and unethical.
Furthermore, I am trying to ascertain if it was indeed a combined Board response that was arrived at collaboratively or whether it was engineered by an individual who may gain from perverting the process.
Should you deem that those documents cannot be released, may i request an automatic review of the decision. If that review will forfeit my rights to a review by the Australian Information Commissioner then do not proceed with the review, and i will approach the Australian Information Commissioner
Thank you for your consideration of my request, yours respectfully, Glen Buckley
The email from Mr Colin McLachlan is copied below."Dear Mr Buckley
I refer to your email message of 2 August 2020 addressed to Ms Donna Hardman, as a member of the CASA Board.
You have made very serious allegations about the conduct of a CASA Executive Manager, without particularising your claims, and without providing any factual basis on which those claims rest other than your own convictions. You have asked for a meeting with Ms Hardman, with a view to an investigation you suggest the Board should conduct into your claims against Dr Aleck.
It is not intended that a meeting of the kind you have proposed with Ms Hardman should occur. Nor, in the absence of any evidence to warrant such action, is it the Board’s intention to mount or recommend an investigation of the kind you suggest.
If you have objective evidence to substantiate any of your allegations against Dr Aleck, beyond the information you have previously provided and the opinions you have previously expressed, you are invited to provide that evidence, in writing, to CASA.
In the absence of new, factually substantiated evidence supporting your claims, the Board has no intention of considering this matter further.
Yours sincerely
Colin McLachlan"