50 Victoria Street
Private Bag 6995
Wellington 6141
New Zealand
T 64 4 894 5400
F 64 4 894 6100
13 July 2021
www.nzta.govt.nz
Matthew Hooton
[FYI request #15620 email]
REF: OIA-8214
Dear Matthew
Request made under the Official Information Act 1982
Thank you for your e-mail
of 31 May 2021 requesting the following information under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act):
…I request all information held by Waka Kotahi NZTA about the incident on Auckland
Harbour Bridge on Sunday 30 May, prior to, during and after the incident…
In particular, I am interested in what advance warning Waka Kotahi or any of its directors,
employees, consultants or other agents had of the incident, and what actions were taken
to encourage, deter, facilitate or prevent the incident.
On 1 June you refined your request as follows:
…I wil limit my request to information generated or received only since 12.01 am on
Tuesday 25 May, 2021...
Please find attached a copy of the correspondence received and sent by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport
Agency from 12.01am on Tuesday 25 May 2021 relating to prior notice received of the ‘Liberate the
Lane’ event on Auckland Harbour Bridge on Sunday 30 May 2021.
Certain information has been withheld under Section 9(2)(a) of the Act to protect the privacy of natural
persons. NZ Police led the operational support for the event. I understand you have submitted a
similar request to them and any information relating to that aspect of the response should be
addressed by that agency.
With respect to the information that has been withheld, I do not consider there are any other factors
which would render it desirable, in the public interest, to make the information available.
Under section 28 of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review my decision to
withhold this information. The contact details for the Ombudsman can be located at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
If you would like to discuss this reply with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, please contact the
Ministerial Services team by email to [email address].
Yours sincerely
Neil Walker
National Manager Maintenance and Operations