Ref: 216017
19 April 2022
Jonathan Brown
Via fyi.org.nz
Tēnā koe Jonathan,
Response to your request for Official Information
On 23 February 2022, you requested the following information from the Human Rights
Commission (“the Commission”) under the Of icial Information Act 1982 (“OIA”):
1.
Any information that supports Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt's
statement that “These are people who have lost loved ones, who have suffered
severe side-effects of vaccination, and lost jobs”.
2.
Any documents relating to the meeting with “representatives from Voices for
Freedom and the Human Rights Commission. Others represented included the
Police, Freedom and Rights Coalition and independents” as described in said
statement.
3.
Under section 23 of the Act a statement of reasons concerning Commissioner
Hunt's aforementioned statement.
4.
Following the amendment of your statement from “These are people who have
lost loved ones, who have suffered severe side-effects of vaccination, and lost
jobs” to "These are people who [have told us they] have lost loved ones, who
[say they] have suffered severe side-effects of vaccination and lost jobs." I
request any documentation (including but not limited to emails and text
messages) related to this amended wording.
Requests 1 and 4 – Information related to Chief’s Commissioner public
statement and amendment
As stated in the Chief Commissioner’s public statement, he met with a group of people
in relation to the Parliament protest on 22 February 2022. It was agreed between all
involved that this engagement would proceed on a confidential basis.
The statements to which this aspect of your request relates were conveyed to the Chief
Commissioner orally at this meeting. The Chief Commissioner obtained consent from
those present at the meeting to share these statements in the Commission’s press
release.
Stantec House, Level 1, 10 Brandon Street, Wel ington
PO Box 10424, Te Whanganui a Tara Wel ington, Aotearoa New Zealand
Waea Telephone +64 4 473-9981 Waea Whakaahua Facsimile +64 9 377-3593
Infoline Tol free 0800 496 877 / TTY
[Human Rights Commission request email] www.hrc.co.nz
As you are aware, the Chief Commissioner’s public statement was updated on 23
February 2022 to clarify that he was sharing statements that had been made to him at
the 22 February meeting, i.e.
“These are people who have told us they have lost loved ones, who say they
have suffered severe side-effects of vaccination and lost jobs.”
Writ en records of the oral statements made during the 22 February meeting are held
by the Commission in confidence. The Commission considers it is in the public interest
that any written records of oral statements made at this meeting remain confidential.
Request 2 – Documents relation to the Parliament protest conciliation meetings
On 21 March 2022, the Commission notified you that your request 2 above, involving
internal and external correspondence and documentation regarding the Parliament
protest conciliation meetings, would be very difficult to meet without substantial
collation or research that would unduly interfere with the Commission’s operations.
In light of this, we have decided to meet the internal correspondence and
documentation aspect of this request by providing the
attached summary of the
Parliament protest conciliation process held by the Commission, in preference to
providing copies of the full information you have requested. We are permitted to do
this under section 16(2) of the OIA because otherwise it would impair the efficient
administration of the Commission. This summary includes an overview of the
conciliation process and the Commission’s role including the workstreams that have
arisen from this process.
In response to the external correspondence and documentation aspect of this request,
we will provide a bundle of documents encompassing the Commission’s
communications with third parties in relation to the protest outside Parliament from 6
February 2022 to 2 March 2022 and the Commission’s protest conciliation process
(including the 22 February meeting and subsequent meetings).
Some documents have been withheld in their entirety, and redactions have been
applied to some of the documents that are included in the bundle. The reasons for
withholding and redacting some documents are explained in the summary document.
We are waiting to finalise one aspect of our consultation with third parties, and expect
to release the bundle to you tomorrow.
Request 3 – Statement of reasons
Under s 23(1) of the OIA, you are entitled to request a writ en statement of reasons
in relation to any decision or recommendation a representative of the Commission
has made in respect of you personally.
As the conciliation process held by the Commission, and its related decisions, did
not concern you specifically, we are refusing the aspect of your request that relates
to s 23(1) of the OIA.
Alternative avenues
If you are not satisfied 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.
Nāku noa, nā
Philippa Moran
Legal Advisor | Kaitohu Ture
New Zealand Human Rights Commission | Te Kāhui Tika Tangata
Encl Summary document – Parliament protest conciliation process
Bundle of external communications and documents for release
Document Outline