Policy documents supporting discriminatory treatment of 2016 and 2022 candidates
Matiu Anaru made this Official Information request to Wellington City Council
The request was refused by Wellington City Council.
From: Matiu Anaru
Tēnā koe Wellington City Council,
Under the LGOMIA please provide a copy or weblink to the by-law, guideline or policy document supporting the decision to allow then Mayor Justin Lester to run advertising promoting his election on commercial billboards in June and July 2016 but prohibiting a Māori candidate in this election to follow the same process.
As you made a public statement on this matter earlier this week you clearly have the document readily to hand so should be able to respond fully immediately and there is no justification possible for taking 20 days to respond.
You may be tempted to dispute the assertion of inconsistent practice, but this is beyond debate. Please see: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/paul-eagle...
In particular, I draw your attention to:
During the 2016 Wellington mayoral race both Leggett and Lester had billboards splashed across the city before the formal election hoarding period.
A Go Media invoice for Lester's campaign showed he paid for advertising on Vivian St, Dixon St, and the corner of Victoria & Vivian Sts over the course of July."
In preparing your response please take note of your obligations under section 4 of the Local Government Act which states:
"Treaty of Waitangi
In order to recognise and respect the Crown’s responsibility to take appropriate account of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and to maintain and improve opportunities for Māori to contribute to local government decision-making processes, Parts 2 and 6 provide principles and requirements for local authorities that are intended to facilitate participation by Māori in local authority decision-making processes."
Ngā mihi,
Matiu Anaru
From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council
Tēnā koe Matiu
Thank you for your email dated 30/06/2022 requesting information about
policy documents supporting discriminatory treatment of 2016 and 2022
candidates.
Our team will manage your request under the Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987 which requires us to provide a decision
as soon as possible, but no later than 28/07/2022, being 20 working days
of receipt.
The reference number for your request is IRC-3560.
Please contact us if you have any further questions.
Kind regards
The Assurance Team
Email: [1][email address]
Wellington City Council | W [2]Wellington.govt.nz | [3]Facebook|
[4]Twitter
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and
intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that
confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the
sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.
[5]http://wellington.govt.nz/~/media/Images...
show quoted sections
From: BUS: Assurance
Wellington City Council
Tēnā koe Matiu,
Thank you for your recent request made under the Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act (the Act). You requested the below
information:
o Under the LGOMIA please provide a copy or weblink to the by-law,
guideline or policy document supporting the decision to allow then
Mayor Justin Lester to run advertising promoting his election on
commercial billboards in June and July 2016 but prohibiting a Māori
candidate in this election to follow the same process.
There is no document which matches your description held by WCC, we are
therefore refusing your request under section 17(g) of the Act as the
information is not held.
The below is available online, which provides guidance on the election
period:
o [1]Elections - Candidate handbook - Wellington City Council
o [2]Plans, policies and bylaws - Election hoardings guidelines -
Wellington City Council
Wellington City Council will soon be publicly releasing information
relating to the billboard issue on [3]our website, including:
o Policies and guidance regarding campaigning
o Correspondence between WCC and Electoral Officer
o Correspondence between Paul Eagle (or his representation) and WCC or
Electoral Officer
o Review of the last election
o Contract between electionz and WCC
Note, the published response will include relevant withholding grounds
where applicable. This will be noted in our response.
If you are not satisfied with the Council’s response, you may request the
Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the Council’s decision. Further
information is available on the Ombudsman website,
[4]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
Ngā mihi
Claudia
Claudia Holgate
Senior Advisor | Official Information Team
Te Kaunihera o Pōneke | Wellington City Council
E [5][email address] | W [6]wellington.govt.nz
From: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Sent: Monday, 4 July 2022 8:58 am
To: Matiu Anaru <[FOI #19789 email]>
Cc: BUS: Assurance <[email address]>
Subject: IRC-3560 - Information request - Election Billboard
Tēnā koe Matiu
Thank you for your email dated 30/06/2022 requesting information about
policy documents supporting discriminatory treatment of 2016 and 2022
candidates.
Our team will manage your request under the Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987 which requires us to provide a decision
as soon as possible, but no later than 28/07/2022, being 20 working days
of receipt.
The reference number for your request is IRC-3560.
Please contact us if you have any further questions.
Kind regards
The Assurance Team
Email: [7][email address]
Wellington City Council | W [8]Wellington.govt.nz | [9]Facebook|
[10]Twitter
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and
intended for the addressee only.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are asked to respect that
confidentiality and not disclose, copy or make use of its contents.
If received in error you are asked to destroy this email and contact the
sender immediately. Your assistance is appreciated.
[11]http://wellington.govt.nz/~/media/Images...
show quoted sections
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence
Offensive? Unsuitable?
Requests for personal information and vexatious requests are not considered valid requests for Official Information (read more).
If you believe this request is not suitable, you can report it for attention by the site administrators
Report this requestAct on what you've learnt
Similar requests
Spending on advertising and promotional material for the 2024 by-elections
To Hamilton City Council by Editor
