Advice on Bill Liu citizenship

Alex Harris made this Official Information Act request to Minister of Labour

The request was partially successful.

From: Alex Harris

21 May 2012

Dear Minister of Labour,

Currently Bill Liu / Yang Liu is standing trial on immigration
fraud charges. In the course of the case, it has been alleged that
then-Immigration Minister Shane Jones granted Liu citizenship
against official advice because he "was in the pocket" of Liu
("Tycoon boasted of his MP mates", Stuff, 18/5/2012). I would like
to request the following information under the Official Information
Act 1982:

* all information, advice and communication relating to Jones'
decision to grant Liu citizenship.

I understand it is normal procedure to consult former Ministers on
the release oftheir documents. If this occurs, I would also like
copies of all communications with Jones relating to this request.

The fact that there is currently a case before the courts obviously
gives potential for a release to prejudice Liu's right to a fair
trial. If this is the case, I am happy to have release delayed
until the legal process is concluded.

While there are obviously strong privacy interests at play here,
there is also a very strong public interest in Ministerial
accountability. Media reports portray the decision as extremely
dubious. Having the facts of what occured in the public arena would
assist public debate on immigration exceptions and allow people to
be held to account if necessary.

I would prefer to receive an electronic response. Queries about
this request will be automatically forwarded to me by the
fyi.org.nz website.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Harris

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From: Mail Delivery System

21 May 2012

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This message was created automatically by the mail system (ecelerity).

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

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21 May 2012

Sent request to Minister of Labour again.

From: K Wilkinson (MIN)
Minister of Labour

21 May 2012

On behalf of Hon Kate Wilkinson, thank you for your email. 

 

Please be assured that all correspondence is read and where the Minister
has portfolio responsibilities for the issues you raise, you may expect a
response in due course. 

 

While the Minister considers all correspondence to be important, if your
email falls outside of the Minister's portfolio responsibilities, your
opinion will be noted but a response beyond this acknowledgement may not
be sent.

 

Thank you for writing.

 

Office of Hon Kate Wilkinson.

 

 

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From: Svar Barrington (MIN)

27 May 2012

Attachment Slevel4.3L 12052810440.pdf
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Svar Barrington | Private Secretary - Immigration |
Office of Hon Kate Wilkinson MP |Associate Minister of Immigration
4.3L Executive Wing | Parliament Buildings | Wellington 6160| New Zealand
DDI +64 4 817 9316 | Mb +64 21 242 5408 | Fax +64 4 817 6519

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From: Emma Stringer

29 May 2012

Attachment Slevel6righ12052916420.pdf
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Good afternoon Alex,

 

Attached is an acknowledgement letter for you Official Information Act
request transferred to this office.

 

Regards, Emma

 

_____________________________________

Emma Stringer

Ministerial Secretary to the Hon Chris Tremain

Minister of Internal Affairs | Minister of Civil Defence

Associate Minister of Tourism | MP for Napier

DDI:  +64 4 817-9431| Fax: +64 4 817-6532
Email: [1][email address]

Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand

 

 

 

From: [email address]
[mailto:[email address]]
Sent: Tuesday, 29 May 2012 4:42 p.m.
To: Emma Stringer
Subject: level6right_copier

 

 

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From: Sara Alexander

22 June 2012

Attachment Scan from canon 4709 0473 001.pdf
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Dear Alex
Please see the attached letter.

Kind regards
SA

Sara Alexander
Personal Assistant to
General Manager, Citizenship
Service Delivery & Operations Branch
Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua
Direct Dial: +64 4 3823520
Fax: +64 4 3823 561

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From: Emma Stringer

4 July 2012

Attachment Slevel6righ12070511020.pdf
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Dear Alex

 

Please find attached a letter in response to your OIA request to Minister
Tremain

 

Regards, Emma

 

_____________________________________

Emma Stringer

Ministerial Secretary to the Hon Chris Tremain

Minister of Internal Affairs | Minister of Civil Defence

Associate Minister of Tourism | MP for Napier

DDI:  +64 4 817-9431| Fax: +64 4 817-6532
Email: [1][email address]

Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand

 

 

 

From: [email address]
[mailto:[email address]]
Sent: Thursday, 5 July 2012 11:02 a.m.
To: Emma Stringer
Subject: level6right_copier

 

 

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References

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1. mailto:[email address]

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From: Geoff May

4 July 2012

Dear Mr Harris

 

Could you please supply me with a physical address so that I can send you
information you have requested as part of your Official Information Act
request.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Geoff May

General Manager, Citizenship Raraunga

Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua

Freephone 0800 22 51 51

Website www.dia.govt.nz

 

====
CAUTION:  This email message and any attachments contain information that
may be confidential and may be LEGALLY PRIVILEGED. If you are not the
intended recipient, any use, disclosure or copying of this message or
attachments is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email
message in error please notify us immediately and erase all copies of the
message and attachments. Thank you.
====

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From: Alex Harris

5 July 2012

Dear Geoff May,

As noted in my request, I am seeking an electronic response. If the
documents are too large for one email, then you can either split it
acros smultiple ones, or use the response upload facility at

http://fyi.org.nz/request/advice_on_bill...

Yours sincerely,

Alex Harris

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From: Geoff May

5 July 2012

Dear Mr Harris

Thank you for your email.

Due to the volume of information we are releasing, we would like to send the material to you at a physical address or to a Post Office Box. Are you able to supply me these details?

Yours sincerely

Geoff May
General Manager, Citizenship Raraunga
Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua
Freephone 0800 22 51 51
Website www.dia.govt.nz

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From: Alex Harris

5 July 2012

Dear Geoff May,

At this stage, I think you should read the Ombudsman's practice
guidelines, specifically part A, chapter 2:

http://www.ombudsmen.parliament.nz/image...

"Where the information requested is contained in a document,
section 16(2)19 requires that
information shall be made available in the way preferred by the
requester" unless doing so would impair efficient administration,
be contrary to a legal duty, or prejudice the interests protected
by sections 6, 7, and 9 of the Act.

I've said repeatedly that I want an electronic response. This is
for two reasons: its easier, and because the purpose of requesting
through FYI is to make sure the information is public on the web
for all to see. This request is unlikely to impair efficient
administration, as most of the documents will already be held
electronicly, and insofar as they are not, scanning something is no
more onerous than photocopying it (and is frequently done on
exactly the same machine these days).

I am quite happy to go to the Ombudsman over this. Do I need to, or
are you going to be reasonable and obey the law?

Yours sincerely,

Alex Harris

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From: Sara Alexander

6 July 2012

Attachment OIA Alex H.pdf
113K Download View as HTML

 

 

 

====
CAUTION:  This email message and any attachments contain information that
may be confidential and may be LEGALLY PRIVILEGED. If you are not the
intended recipient, any use, disclosure or copying of this message or
attachments is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email
message in error please notify us immediately and erase all copies of the
message and attachments. Thank you.
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From: Alex Harris

6 July 2012

Dear Sara Alexander,

Thanks, but you've sent me only the two-page cover letter, without
anything else.

If the size of the attachments is a problem, then there is a direct
upload facility here:

http://fyi.org.nz/request/advice_on_bill...

Yours sincerely,

Alex Harris

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From: Sara Alexander

6 July 2012

Hi

You recently made an official information request to the Department under
the Official Information Act regarding Yang Liu aka Yong Ming Yan aka
William Yan. The Department has carefully considered your request under
the Act and is providing you with the following information. Click on the
links below to download the documents:

 

Part 1 (schedule of documents held on Citizenship file)
[1]https://www.yousendit.com/download/QlVpY...

Part 2 (documents 7–71)
[2]https://www.yousendit.com/download/QlVpY...

Part 3 (documents 71–96)
[3]https://www.yousendit.com/download/QlVpY...

Part 4 (documents 96–127)
[4]https://www.yousendit.com/download/QlVpY...

Part 5 (documents 127–206)
[5]https://www.yousendit.com/download/QlVpY...

 

We will send you by email a letter from the Department relating to your
specific request. In addition, the Department has today posted a hard copy
of the information, your letter and the material, to the address you
provided.

 

If you have queries about the information please contact our media
advisors:

 

Michael Mead

04 382 3437

021 245 7451

[6][email address]

 

or

 

Tony Wallace

04 4959472

0274402667

[7][email address]

 

 

 

====
CAUTION:  This email message and any attachments contain information that
may be confidential and may be LEGALLY PRIVILEGED. If you are not the
intended recipient, any use, disclosure or copying of this message or
attachments is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email
message in error please notify us immediately and erase all copies of the
message and attachments. Thank you.
====

References

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2. https://www.yousendit.com/download/QlVpY...
3. https://www.yousendit.com/download/QlVpY...
4. https://www.yousendit.com/download/QlVpY...
5. https://www.yousendit.com/download/QlVpY...
6. mailto:[email address]
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From: Sara Alexander

8 July 2012

Dear Alex
you were sent the link to the documentation in a previous email on Friday. The links were working. We tested them.
Let me know if you did not receive the first email and I can resend it? It was called Official Information Act REQUEST in the subject line. I have rechecked and it definitely went out to you on Friday.

Kind regards
SA

Sara Alexander
Personal Assistant to the General Manager, Citizenship
Service Delivery & Operations Branch
Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua
Direct Dial: +64 4 3823520 x 4520
Fax: +64 4 3823 561

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From: Alex Harris

8 July 2012

Dear Sara Alexander,

Sorry; the emails arrived out of order and the the one with the
links didn't show up for several hours. It has arrived, the data is
there, and publicly available. Thanks for all the effort you've
gone to over this.

Yours sincerely,

Alex Harris

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Things to do with this request

Anyone:
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