Dear New Zealand Defence Force,

There is a building at 1-15 Pipitea Street Wellington that has a yellow notice in its foyer notifying passers-by that the area is a Defence Area, with subsequent notification banning anyone from entering other than on business, and powers to detain and search.

Given that the two main Govt departments in the building are civilian, and don't feature in any way in the Defence Act as a branch of NZDF, please provide any information and documentation regarding how the decision to notify the building as a Defence Area was reached. Also, please provide electronic copies of any Order in Council or Defence Force Order as referred to in the Defence Act relevant to this address, and the rank and position of the officer in charge of this Defence Area.

Yours faithfully,

Bruce Miller.

Dear Ministerial Services,

Thank you for your reply on 20 October 2020 regarding my enquiry into Wellington Defence Area notifications. (OIA-2020-3944)

I have a request for additional information.

Recent photos suggest a similar Defence Area sign is displayed near the entrance the the GCSB facility in the Waihopai Valley. Is the justification for the sign the same as that for Pipitea House - that a certain number of NZDF personnel are permanent full-time employees on the site? To use your words,

"New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel were employed within the building on a permanent
full-time basis. Although there are now fewer NZDF employees in the building, those who remain
justify the ongoing Defence Area classification."

Additionally, if the land that the GCSB facility is on is actually owned by NZDF, does NZDF receive a payment for the lease or rent of that land? Additionally, if this is the case, when was the last time any lease was reviewed?

Finally, was the Defence Force Order used in the specific instance where three protestors entered the facility and destroyed GBSB property in April 2008?

Yours sincerely,

Bruce

Dear Ministerial Services,

Thank you for your reply dated October 13, 2021.

I have additional information I would like to request.

Your reply stated that the "designation of the Station Secure Communication Facility as a Defence Area under the DFO referenced above was issued sometime after April 2008."

I would like an exact date for when the Defence Force Order was created for the Waihopai facility.

Also, photos on Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand (https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/3407...) show a deflated dome with a weathered Defence Area sign in the foreground. To my untrained eye, this would imply a DFO declaring Waihopai to be a Defence Area was in existence a considerable time before 2008. Have there been a number of different DFO's in place for the Waihopai facility, including ones prior to the one "issued sometime after April 2008"?

Finally, was a legal opinion sought regarding the legality of the DFO "issued sometime after April 2008" to the Waihopai facility? And have legal opinions been generated over the last 10 years regarding DFO's for any Defence Areas?

Yours sincerely,

Bruce