Ref: 208728
6 August 2021Friday, 6 August 2021
Matthew O'Higgins
By email to
[FYI request #16029 email]
Tēnā koe Matthew,
Response to your request for Official Information
On 10 July 2021, you requested from the Human Rights Commission (“the Commission”)
1. Whether the Chief Human Rights Commissioner took advice on this specific matter of making
a koha to the Waikato Mongrel Mob Kingdom prior to the visit, or whether it has been an
already established general practice to give koha to gang pads or certain groups that naturally
applied in that situation.
2. All correspondences between the Chief Human Rights Commission or the Commissioner
themselves with their advisers, officials, Members of Parliament, the Waikato Mongrel Mob
Kingdom, their associates, patched members or spokespeople in which this piece of advice
was 1. proposed as an idea (if any) and 2. suggested, given, recommended. It is also
requested that included also are correspondences where it was agreed (by the Commissioner
themselves or the Commission) that the Commissioner made the koha, or where it was
acknowledged the need to make a koha.
3. All correspondences between the Chief Human Rights Commission or the Commissioner
themselves with their advisers, officials, Members of Parliament, the Waikato Mongrel Mob
Kingdom, their associates, patched members or spokespeople in which any other advice was
made, and/or any other idea proposed, on matters of tikanga (in relation to this event) and
koha to the Waikato Mongrel Mob Kingdom.
4. All correspondences between the Chief Human Rights Commission or the Commissioner
themselves with their advisers, officials, Members of Parliament, the Waikato Mongrel Mob
Kingdom, their associates, patched members or spokespeople regarding the specific advice
on [or idea of] the amount of the koha.
5. All correspondences between the Chief Human Rights Commission or the Commissioner
themselves with their advisers, officials, Members of Parliament, the Waikato Mongrel Mob
Kingdom, their associates, patched members or spokespeople which show $200 was agreed
to be the amount of koha (if these correspondences exist) and/or advice given to the Chief
Commissioner that led them to make that amount of koha.
In response to your requests, the Commission has provided a public response summarising the
process that was undertaken in approving the Commission’s attendance at, and the koha for, the 1
May pōwhiri and hui with the Waikato Mongrel Mob Kingdom. This information is publicly available on
our website under the
Official Information Act requests section of our
Corporate and accountability
information page.
In further response to your requests, the Commission did not correspond with any external parties
including Members of Parliament, the Waikato Mongrel Mob Kingdom, their associates, patched
embers or spokespeople about the koha, the tikanga around koha or the amount of koha.
For all other information requested, the Commission is refusing to provide that in order to maintain the
effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of opinions between members
of the Commission in the course of their duty and the protection of members of the Commission from
improper pressure or harassment. The Commission has also considered it appropriate to refuse this
Level 8, 44 The Terrace, Wellington
PO Box 10424, The Terrace, Te Whanganui a Tara Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand
Waea Telephone +64 4 473-9981 Waea Whakaahua Facsimile +64 9 377-3593
Infoline Toll free 0800 496 877 / TTY
[Human Rights Commission request email] www.hrc.co.nz
request as the information cannot be made available without substantial collation or research which
would have a significant and unreasonable impact on the Commissions ability to carry out our other
operations. The Commission considers that the need to withhold outweighs the public interest in
providing this information.
Alternative avenues
If you are unhappy with this response, under the Official Information Act you are entitled to complain
to the Ombudsman’s Office. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or on freephone 0800 802 602.
If you have any further queries about this response, please feel free to contact me directly.
Nāku noa, nā
Jaimee Paenga
Legal Adviser
