09 December 2021
Ministerial and Secretariat Services
45 Pipitea St
Thorndon
PO Box 805, Wel ington 6140, New Zealand
Phone +64 4 495 7200
dia.govt.nz
M Lee
[FYI request #17527 email]
Dear M Lee
Official Information Act request (OIA 2122-0397)
I refer to your Official Information Act (OIA) request of 11 November 2021 to the Department
of Internal Affairs (the Department) requesting the fol owing information:
Please provide details on all Crown Limo trips taken on 9th, 10th and 11th of
November. Details to include (but not limited to) are Origin, Destination, any stops
along the route, Date, Time of Departure, Time of Arrival, Length of Trip (distance and
time), passengers and reason for the trip.
Response to your request
The Department’s VIP Transport service (VIP Transport) provides a safe, secure and
confidential fleet management and transport service around New Zealand for Ministers and
other entitled users. VIP Transport provides 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (24/7) operational
capability across New Zealand.
We have interpreted your request as being for trips in chauffeur-driven Crown vehicles on 9,
10, 11 November 2021 where Ministers or former Prime Ministers were being transported.
We have removed administrative trips the vehicles made without any passengers (including
any trips required to refuel, relocate a vehicle, or to deliver papers).
Please find attached a spreadsheet with the information you have requested (Appendix A).
This specifies the office which booked the vehicle, the date, pick-up time and location and
drop-off time and location (these provide the trip duration) and the distance of the trip in
approximate kilometres. Please note that, for privacy reasons, we have excluded private
residential addresses and instead provided the suburb relating to a trip. The Department
considers that releasing location data at a more detailed level may provide patterns of
Ministers’ travel and thus poses a security risk.
The information in this response is VIP Transport vehicle information. Please note that
recording the duration of a trip requires manual input from the chauffeur at the pick-up and
at the drop-off location. On short trips, the point at which this is manually entered can affect
the trip length displayed, however the location data provides the trip distance. As such, exact
times and distances are subject to human error. For example, trips that are listed as 1
kilometre in distance may in fact be longer than 1 kilometre.
VIP Transport notes the office / individual who has booked the service. Unless specified when
the booking is made, it does not record extra passengers travelling in the vehicle, the purpose
of the trip, nor any stops between pick-up and final destination, as this information is not
necessary for the administration of the service.
As we do not record the passengers who actually travelled in the vehicles, nor the purpose of
the trip, I am declining part of your request for this information under section 18(e) of the OIA
as the information does not exist.
Background
The Crown fleet is comprised of chauffeur-driven long wheel base sedans, vans and plain cars
as well as self-drive cars for Ministers and former Prime Ministers as per entitlements under
the Travel Services within New Zealand Determination 2020 and Members of Parliament
(Former Prime Ministers’ Travel Services) Determination 2017. The service also organises taxis
or other private providers, where Crown fleet vehicles are either not available or practical.
In addition to Ministers of the Crown, those entitled to use chauffeur-driven vehicles include
visiting dignitaries, Heads of State and Heads of Government; Governors-General, former
Governors-General and former Prime Ministers; the Leader of the Opposition, the Speaker
and Deputy Speaker of the House and members of the judiciary.
Entitled users are listed in the Speaker’s Directions 2020 and the Ministers’ Travel Services
within New Zealand Determination 2017; the Members of Parliament (Former Prime
Ministers’ Travel Services) Determination 2017; and, the Members of Parliament
Accommodation Services for Members and Travel Services for Family Members
Determination 2020.
Ministers are the largest group of entitled users. Clause 2.1 of the Ministers’ Travel Services
within New Zealand Determination 2017 provides that ‘A Minister may use a chauffeur-driven
car arranged by VIP Transport at any time for any purpose, at the Minister’s discretion’.
Ministers need to travel regularly to fulfil their obligations, and the confidential, chauffeur-
driven service allows Ministers to use this time efficiently.
These determinations are publicly available and can be found on the New Zealand
Parliament’s website at
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/parliamentary-rules/directions-
determinations/
If you have any concerns with the information in this response, you have a right to request an
investigation and review by the Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the OIA. Information on
how to do this is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
Briget Ridden
Acting General Manager
Ministerial and Secretariat Services
