19-E-0484 / DOC 6038744
15 August 2019
Hannah Enderby
via FYI website
Dear Ms Enderby
We refer to your Official Information Act (OIA) request to the Department of
Conservation dated 18 July 2019 regarding the urine samples that were tested for
traces of 1080.
Eligibility under the OIA
In our 7 August 2019 response to a previous OIA request from you (request 19-E-
0457), we asked that you provide evidence of your eligibility to make requests under
the OIA by 14 August 2019.
We did not receive the evidence we requested within that prescribed timeframe.
Therefore, we have decided to decline this request on the basis that it does not meet
the eligibility criteria set out in section 12 of the OIA. I have made this decision in
consideration of the resources we have available to respond to requests and our
obligation and ability to respond to legitimate OIA requests in a timely manner.
Future requests for information
The Department is open to responding to future requests for information on the basis
that you pay for the costs incurred by the Department in preparing responses to those
requests.
Schedule 1 (attached to this letter) provides an example of how we might calculate
those costs. That example considers a request which will require the Department to
spend a minimum of 8 hours to prepare a response (so effectively one working day). I
note that the charging rate we have used in that example is consistent with the rate
prescribed in the Ombudsman’s guidelines for charging for official information.
If we receive an information request from you in future, we will scope the work
required to respond and fix a charge accordingly. We would then require full payment
of that amount to the Department before we begin preparing a response.
Conservation House -
Whare Kaupapa Atawhai
PO Box 10 420, Wel ington 6143
Telephone (04) 471 0726, Fax (04) 381 3057
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this
decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
Amber Bill
Director Threats
for Director-General
Schedule 1 – an example of the calculation of costs
Table 1: chargeable activities
Chargeable activities
• Search and retrieval of relevant documents
required
• Research (reading and reviewing to identify
relevant information)
• Drafting and editing the response
• Reasonably required peer review to ensure that the
response accurately captures the requested
information
Minimum estimated
8 hours
total time to complete
chargeable activities
Table 2: calculation of total cost payable
Charging rate*
Total hours
Total chargeable
(NZD)
hours
Total cost* (NZD)
8 hours
$38/half hour,
7 hours
$532.00
with the first hour
free
* All costs are inclusive of GST