Does the Masterton District Council open its meetings with a prayer?

Alex Harris made this Official Information Act request to Masterton District Council

The request was partially successful.

From: Alex Harris

17 April 2012

Dear Masterton District Council,

As you may have read recently, the Whanganui District Council
abolished its opening prayer after a complaint was made to the
Human Rights Commission. I'm interested in learning how widespread
this practice is, so I'd like to request the following information
under the LGOIMA:

* Does the Council open its meetings with a prayer?
* If the answer to the above is "yes", then I'd like a copy of that
prayer (or examples, if more than one is used), when the practice
was first established, whether the council has considered
abolishing it in the wake of the Whanganui decision, and any advice
the council may hold on the prayer's compatibility with both the
Human Rights Act 1993 and Bill of Rights Act 1990.

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: Alex Harris

29 May 2012

Dear Masterton District Council,

A response to this request was due over a week ago and it is now
late. Will I be receiving a response anytime soon?

Yours faithfully,

Alex Harris

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From: Alex Harris

26 June 2012

Dear Masterton District Council,

A complaint for effective refusal has now been lodged with the
Ombudsman.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Harris

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From: Ruth Cox
Masterton District Council

2 July 2012

Good morning Alex

Apologies for the delay in answering this query, we thought this request had been answered some time ago.

The Masterton District Council does not open its formal Council meetings with a prayer.

At some task group meetings that are culturally sensitive the meeting is opened and closed with a prayer. Also on occasions when messages have been considered by the Council a prayer has been part of the process.

Ruth Cox
Office Supervisor
Masterton District Council
Phone (06) 370 6300 ext 704
DDI (06) 370 6304
email: [email address]

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