Walkden and Department of State Development
(1998 S0110, 7 March 2000)
The applicant requested access to documents held by the respondent relating to the Nelly Bay Harbour development on Magnetic Island, North Queensland. The matter in issue had been narrowed down to one Agreement, which was made between the developer and a number of third parties.
The respondent claimed that this document was exempt under s.45(1)(c) of the FOI Act. Submissions were received from several of the third parties who objected to the disclosure of their names and the names of their companies, under s.44(1). The Information Commissioner decided that, with the exception of the signatures of individuals contained in the Agreement (which the Information Commissioner found to be exempt matter under s.44(1) of the FOI Act), the Agreement did not qualify for exemption under the FOI Act.
