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133 Molesworth Street
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
T +64 4 496 2000
12 November 2021
New Zealand Council of Civil Liberties
By email: [FYI request #17162 email]
Ref:
H202114169
Tena koe
Response to your request for official information
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) to the Ministry of
Health (the Ministry) on 12 October 2021. A full copy of your request is enclosed as Appendix 1.
On 27 October 2021, the majority of your request was transferred to the Department of Prime
Minister and Cabinet (DPMC). You can expect a response from DPMC in due course.
I will now respond to the remainder of your request. You asked for:
''A copy of the speaking and briefing notes officials had to hand when presenting the
vaccination certificate scheme in the press conference on 5
October 2021, including any
answers to questions from the media that were not in fact asked on the day, and any 'lines
to take"'
Please find a copy of the requested document attached as Document 1. Some information has
been withheld as it is outside of the scope of your request.
Please note that while the document states, "You'll need to carry a piece of ID that matches the
name on the vaccination certificate," this is not accurate. ID is not required to accompany the
vaccine certificate, although ID may separately be required for different reasons such as access
to a venue where there is a minimum age requirement.
I trust this information fulfils your request. Under section 28(3) of the Act you have the right to
ask the Ombudsman to review any decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may
be contacted by email at: [email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry website at: www.health.govt.nz/about-ministry/information-releases/responses-official
i nformation-act-requests.
Naku noa, na
National Director
COVID-19 Vaccine and Immunisation Programme
This is a request under the Official Information Act. Under section 12(3) of the OIA we are requesting
that you treat this request as urgent. Our reasons for requesting urgency are set out below.
In the press conference held on 5 October 2021, the Prime Minister announced that the Cabinet had
decided to introduce vaccination certificates. The Prime Minister said that the government is ‘consulting
on this framework now’ and that this included their use in hospitality venues. Later in the press
conference, the Prime Minister responded to a question about the use of certificates to access church
services, and suggested the consultation was also including ‘what kind of measures do those
organisations want to have in place’. The Prime Minister said that ‘they’re very open conversations’.
Unfortunately, NZCCL has been unable to find any consultation documents relating to the framework for
vaccination certificates on the websites of the DPMC, Ministry of Health,
http://scanmail.trustwave.com/?c=15517&d=94zl4XF6ht56uGDUruCZR71xICzMj9Fe307udkJasA&u=http
%3a%2f%2fCovid-19%2egovt%2enz or the central consultation listing website.
We therefore request the fol owing information held by the Ministry:
1. Copies of all the information provided to those people or organisations outside government that the
Prime Minister said were being consulted on vaccination certificates; and 2. Information,
correspondence, or advice received from the Privacy Commissioner or his officials, and minutes of
meetings with the Commissioner or his officials, on the subject of vaccination certificates since 1 January
2021; and 3. Advice held, or received, on the Human Rights Act and NZ Bil of Rights Act implications of
introducing vaccination certificates; and 4. Advice to Ministers since 1 January 2021 on police,
intelligence and security agency, or public service department access to information gathered when a
vaccination certificate is scanned or authenticated by a place that a certificate holder visits; and 5.
Advice to Ministers since 1 May 2021 about vaccination certificates (not ‘vaccination passports’ for
international use); and 6. A copy of the speaking and briefing notes officials had to hand when
presenting the vaccination certificate scheme in the press conference on 5 October 2021, including any
answers to questions from the media that were not in fact asked on the day, and any ‘lines to take’.
If the Ministry is unwilling to disclose the advice received and provided please provide the information
that you hold in relation to the fol owing questions:
1. Why is the government not consulting the public on vaccination certificates?
2. How is the government upholding Te Tiriti by working with Māori?
3. Why has the government not published the advice from the Privacy Commissioner, officials working
on the Human Rights Act and NZ Bil of Rights Act implications, and the papers considered by Cabinet?
4. Will there be any limits on who can download and use the app for scanning vaccination certificates? If
so, what limits?
5. What data will be collected by the app that scans the certificates? How much of this data will be
retained on the app, or will it all be deleted once a certificate has been verified as genuine?
6. What data will be logged by the government when a vaccination certificate is scanned by a venue?
Will this include location, date and time of the scan? If yes to any of this, for how long will this
information be retained?
7. Will any of the data logged by the government when a certificate is scanned be shared with any other
government agency? Will the government legislate to prevent this data from being shared or accessed
by any other agency?
8, Wil the data retained by the government be shared in aggregate form?
9. Wil the data retained by the government be shared in so-called ‘anonymous’ form?
10. Will the government legislate to protect people’s rights by prohibiting supermarkets, dairies, health
centres, pharmacies, and other essential public services such as transport and Work and Income offices
from requiring people to show a vaccination certificate?
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11. Wil the government put a sunset clause in the legislation to shut down the domestic vaccination
certificate system?
The Council is seeking this information urgently so that we and the public are better informed and more
able to consider the proposals and provide commentary on them before the plans are finalised. The
Prime Minister indicated that the timeframe for finalising the policy and introducing the necessary
legislation was tight given the desire to have the scheme in place in November. The primary purpose of
the Official Information Act is to enable people to participate in the making of policy. Therefore the
public should have this information as soon as possible, not just after decisions have been made and
legislation introduced to Parliament. In addition, the Council believes there is a strong public interest in
accountability for advice and internal discussion of issues pertaining to privacy and extraordinary state
powers to record, trace and share information about the movement of people. This public interest, and
that in participation on an issue affecting our rights, outweighs any grounds for withholding information
under the section 9 withholding grounds.
If the Ministry decides to withhold any information in response to this request we further request,
under section 19(a)(i ) of the OIA that the Department provide the specific reasons for citing each
withholding ground.
Yours sincerely,
The New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties
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Document Outline
