Tçnâ koe George,

Thank you for your OIA request to the Department of Internal Affairs (included with this email)

The Department will provide its response to your request as soon as practicable and within twenty working days.  The 20th working day is 24 June 2020

Please note that in cases where the Department’s response provides information that is identified to be of general public interest, the response may also be published on the Department of Internal Affairs website.  If the Department publishes its response to your OIA request, all personal information, including your name and contact details, will be removed.

COVID-19
To help stop the spread of COVID-19, most of our staff are working from home.  This means it may take us a little longer to process your Official Information Act request.  In some cases we may need to extend the timeframe for response and will let you know if this applies to your request.
Read more information and updates from the Ombudsman about Official Information Act processing.

Ngâ mihi

Michelle Reed | Lead Advisor – Official Correspondence 
Te Urungi - Organisational Strategy and Performance
Te Tari Taiwhenua - The Department of Internal Affairs
45 Pipitea St | PO Box 805, Wellington 6140, New Zealand |  www.dia.govt.nz

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Kia ora George,

I'd just like to clarify a few things regarding your request.

The Department of Internal Affairs did not seek amendments to the Official Information Act 1982. We did, however, seek amendments to the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987. As the Office of the Ombudsman has noted, this was to allow local authorities to hold meetings while under lockdown.

Are you after correspondence relating to this change to meeting requirements for local authorities, or are you solely after any proposals for changes to the Official Information Act?

If it's the latter, I can confirm that the Department does not hold any information relevant to your request.

Best,
Fergus

Fergus Broom | Policy Manager | Policy Group
Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua 

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