Ref: 217639
19 April 2022
David Adamson
Via fyi.org.nz
Tēnā koe David,
Response to your request for Official Information
On 20 March 2022, you requested the following information from the Human Rights
Commission (“the Commission”) under the Of icial Information Act 1982 (“OIA”):
Any meeting notes, minutes, or correspondence that preceded or followed
meetings with anti-vax groups or related “disaffected Pākehā men” referenced
publicly by the Commissioner. Please limit this request to the immediate past
12 months.
If any information is withheld on the basis that it was supplied in confidence
please provide any evidence that this was explicitly supplied in confidence (not
just implied confidence). If a decision is made to withhold in full please also
confirm why notes or correspondence cannot be anonymised and (partial y)
released stil .
The Commissioner has expressed that there is public interest in discussing
these issues, it is my request that this same public interest be applied or your
decision to release information - even partially/anonymised if need be.
We note that your request comprises “
any meeting notes, minutes or correspondence”
which includes both information held internally within the Commission, as well as
communications with external third parties.
Your request has been administratively challenging to deal with. In particular, the
aspect of your request seeking copies of all internal documentation and
correspondence would be very dif icult to meet without substantial collation or
research. It would take a significant amount of time for us to obtain, review, consult,
and make potential redactions to this information and we are of the view that this would
unduly interfere with the Commission’s other operations.
In light of this, we have decided to meet the internal correspondence and
documentation aspect of your 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
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
arisen from this process.
In response to the aspect of your request that seeks copies of external
correspondence and documentation, 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.
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
