22 May 2020
45 Pipitea St
PO Box 805
Wellington 6140
John Sutton
New Zealand
Phone +64 4 495 7200
Fax +64 4 495 7222
Via email: John Sutton
<fyi-request-12471-
Websi
te dia.govt.nz
[email address]
Dear John
Official Information Act 1982 (the “OIA”) request dated 18 March 2020 (ref OIA19200693)
Thank you for your OIA request dated 18 March 2020 to the Department of Internal Affairs
(the “Department”). You requested the following information:
Copies of any reports, audits or investigations conducted into the Pockets 8 Ball Club
previously based in Tokoroa.
On 19 March 2020, the Department wrote to you acknowledging your request, and on 3 April
2020 it advised you it had extended the timeframe for its response until 25 May 2020, under
section 15A of the OIA.
Number of documents within scope of your request
The Department identified
15 documents in scope of your request, which are summarised at
Appendix 1.
Please note that there are two errors in Document 14 relating to dates. Namely, at page 10,
paragraph 5, it refers to “on 8 December 2015, the Department briefed the Minister on the
merger”. The date reference in this paragraph should refer to 8 December 2016. Similarly, in
the same paragraph, it refers to “…it was subsequently approved by the Minister on 12
December 2015”. The latter date should refer to “8 December 2016”.
Principle of availability
The guiding principle for considering your request for official information is the principle of
availability (section 5 of the OIA), that is, information must be made available on request
unless there is good reason for withholding it. “Good reason” for withholding is defined in
the OIA under a number of grounds. It is against these grounds that the Department
considered your request.
Withholding grounds applicable under section 6 of the OIA
The Department has considered the conclusive reasons for withholding information that are
not subject to the public interest test, listed in section 6 of the OIA.
The Department considers that section 6(d) of the OIA applies to some of the information in
Documents 7 and 14, to avoid endangering the safety of any person. The Department has
specifically identified the application of this ground in relevant redactions in these
documents.
Withholding grounds applicable under section 9(2) of the OIA
The Department has considered the other reasons for withholding information that are
subject to the public interest test, listed in section 9(2) of the OIA. The following grounds for
withholding information as outlined in section 9(2) of the OIA apply to the redacted
information to the extent outlined in Appendix 1 of this letter and in the documents
themselves: section 9(2)(a), section 9(2)(ba)(i), section 9(2)(g)(i), and section 9(2)(h) of the
OIA.
It is necessary to withhold some information in the document set under section 9(2)(a) of
the OIA to protect the privacy of certain persons (including the employees of the
Department). The information withheld includes names and phone numbers. The documents
affected by the application of this withholding ground are 1, 4, and 6 to 14 (inclusive).
In addition, some information in Documents 7, 12, and 14 is withheld under section
9(2)(ba)(i) of the OIA. It is necessary to withhold summaries of interviews of Pockets’ staff as
this information is subject to an obligation of confidence. Also, information provided by
certain banks to the Department (which is included in Documents 12 and 14) is subject to an
obligation of confidence. Releasing this redacted information would be likely to prejudice
the supply of similar information or information from the same source in future. It is also in
the public interest that such information continues to be supplied in the future.
Documents 2 and 5 are withheld in full under section 9(2)(g)(i) of the OIA, and some
information in Document 7 is also withheld under this ground. The documents, and
information in question, are being withheld under section 9(2)(g)(i) on the basis that release
of this information would inhibit the future exchange of free and frank opinions and that
inhibition would also prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs.
Finally, some information in Documents 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, and 14 is subject to legal professional
privilege, and section 9(2)(h) of the OIA applies to this information.
Legal advice in Document 8
Please note that the legal advice in Document 8 was taken verbatim from a series of emails
to and from a solicitor in the Department’s Legal Services section. The legal professional
privilege in these emails relating to Pockets 8 Ball Club has been subject to a partial waiver of
privilege, and the Department cannot continue to rely on section 9(2)(h) of the OIA for
Document 8 to the extent legal professional privilege has previously been waived. Therefore,
in accordance with the principle of availability under the OIA, the Department has attached
to this letter a summary of the Pockets 8 Ball Club legal advice that is contained in the
Outcomes and Advisory Board paper – refer to Document 15.
Please note that the names of the parties to the emails (as referred to in Document 15) are
withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the OIA.
Page 2 of 5
For the avoidance of doubt, please note that part of the legal advice in Document 8 relates
to the Hasting RSA merger and this advice was not subject to an implied waiver of privilege.
Therefore, the withholding of this information remains necessary to maintain legal
professional privilege under section 9(2)(h) of the OIA.
The public interest test
Before deciding to withhold information under sections 9(2)(a), 9(2)(ba)(i), 9(2)(g)(i), and
9(2)(h) of the OIA, the Department considered whether the withholding of information was
outweighed by any public interest considerations under section 9(1) of the OIA. The
Department acknowledges the public interest in the transparent conduct of public affairs
and in holding officials to account for their actions.
In this case, it has been decided that the public interest in favour of disclosure of the
redacted information in question does not outweigh the need to withhold the redacted
information for the reasons set out in section 9(2) of the OIA (and as described in this letter).
Therefore, sections 9(2)(a), 9(2)(ba)(i), 9(2)(g)(i), and 9(2)(h) of the OIA provide good reasons
for withholding the redacted information in question.
Recourse to the Ombudsman
If you are dissatisfied with the Department’s decision on your request for information, you
have the right, under section 28 of the OIA, to make a complaint to the Office of the
Ombudsman. The Office of the Ombudsman can be contacted by phone on 0800 802 602,
via post at PO Box 10152 Wellington, or via email to [email address].
Yours sincerely
Chris Thornborough
On behalf of Lisa Docherty
Director Regulatory System
Gambling
Page 3 of 5
Appendix 1
Number Title
Date
Comments
1
Internal report
19 March
Released with some information withheld
2009
under section 9(2)(a) of the OIA.
2
Draft audit report for 21 May 2009 Withheld in full under section 9(2)(g)(i) of the
Pockets 8 Ball Club
OIA.
Inc. (Audit period - 1
April 2007 to 31
March 2008)
3
Audit report for
22 April 2011 Released in full
Pockets 8 Ball Club
Inc. (Audit period - 1
April 2009 to 31
March 2010)
4
GCG Advisory Group
10 April 2012 Released with some information withheld
Report
under section 9(2)(a) and section 9(2)(h) of
the OIA
5
Draft audit report for June 2014
Withheld in full under section 9(2)(g)(i) of the
Pockets 8 Ball Club
OIA.
Inc (Audit period - 31
March 2013 to 1
April 2014)
6
Transitional
15 June 2015 Released with some information withheld
Outcomes and
under section 9(2)(a) and section 9(2)(h) of
Advisory Board
the OIA.
Report
Some information is also redacted as being
out of scope
7
Outcomes and
29 July 2016
Released with some information withheld
Advisory Board
under section 6(d) of the OIA and section
Report
9(2)(a), section 9(2)(ba)(i), section 9(2)(g)(i)
and section 9(2)(h) of the OIA.
8
Outcomes and
20 October
Released with some information withheld
Advisory Board
2016
under section 9(2)(a) and section 9(2)(h) of
Report
the OIA.
9
Internal Affairs
8 December
Released with some information withheld
briefing to the
2016
under section 9(2)(a) of the OIA.
Minister of Internal
Affairs
10
Internal email
29
Released with some information withheld
attaching one
September
under section 9(2)(a) of the OIA.
attachment
2017
11
Attachment 1 -
29
Released with some information withheld
Internal
September
under section 9(2)(a) and section 9(2)(h) of
memorandum -
2017
the OIA.
forensics report
Page 4 of 5
12
Internal
11 April 2018 Released with some information withheld
memorandum
under section 9(2)(a) and section 9(2)(ba)(i) of
the OIA.
13
Internal
21 May 2018 Released with some information withheld
memorandum
under section 9(2)(a) of the OIA.
14
Internal Regulatory
21 August
Released with some information withheld
Investigations Report 2018
under section 6(d), section 9(2)(a), section
9(2)(ba)(i) and section 9(2)(h) of the OIA.
15
Summary of legal
Undated
Released in full
advice from
Document 8
Page 5 of 5
