Justice Centre | 19 Aitken Street 
DX SX10088 | Wellington 
T 04 918 8800 | F 04 918 8820 
[email address] | www.justice.govt.nz 
 
 
 
17 August 2022 
 
Andrew Ecclestone 
[FYI request #19977 email] 
                                                                                                     Our ref: OIA 97762 
 
Tēnā koe Mr Ecclestone 
 
Official Information Act request: Consultation with political parties 
 
Thank you for your response of 5 August 2022.  I apologise for the delay in responding. 
 
When we noted that the scope of parts 4 and 6 of your request of 20 July 2022 was very broad, 
we were meaning that it effectively encompassed everything to do with the previous OIA 
requests, of which there have been six.   
 
The majority of the information within the scope of parts 4 and 6 of your request is emails.  There 
are a large number of emails (in the hundreds) to do with administrative matters, discussions 
about the substantive issues regarding release (which are relatively complex), and consultation 
with the Minister’s office.   
 
If you agreed to receive a summary of the Ministry of Justice’s reasons for withholding the 
information, we could also include a summary of consultation undertaken to reach that view 
(particularly with the Minister’s office) to the extent that we would release that information in 
response to your full request (we would advise what we were withholding in that respect). 
 
You would, of course, have the opportunity to make a more targeted request for underlying 
information once you received the summary. 
 
In the meantime, I am extending the timeframe for responding to your original request by 40 
working days under section 15A of the Act to 12 October 2022. A response cannot reasonably be 
made within the original statutory timeframe because your request is for a large quantity of 
information and meeting the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with the Ministry’s 
operations. We would endeavour to respond well within the extended period if you chose to 
continue with your original request. 
 
You have the right under section 28(3) of the Act to complain to the Ombudsman about the 
decision to extend the time for responding to your request. The Ombudsman may be contacted 
by emailing [email address]. 
 
 
Nāku noa, nā 
 
Jenna Bottcher Hansen 
Manager, Ministerial Relations and Services 

---