Justice Centre | 19 Aitken Street
DX SX10088 | Wellington
T 04 918 8800 |
W justice.govt.nz
E [email address]
13 October 2022
Andrew Ecclestone
[FYI request #19977 email]
Our ref: OIA 97762
Tēnā koe Andrew
Official Information Act request: Consultation with political parties
I refer to the previous correspondence about your request of 23 July 2022, under the
Of icial Information Act 1982 (the Act) for information on consultation with political parties
in respect of possible reform of the electoral finance laws.
On 17 August 2022, the Ministry extended the due date for responding to your request
by 40 working days to 12 October 2022. The public holiday on 26 September 2022
meant the due date subsequently changed to 13 October 2022.
In the last stages of finalising its response, the Ministry has decided to reconsider
whether it is necessary to withhold some information that was originally going to be
withheld. This has meant that the full response to your request has been slightly
delayed. We expect that it wil be provided to you by 21 October 2022.
In the meantime, we can advise of the high-level decisions on the seven parts of your
request:
1) Copies of the submissions received in response to the consultation from al political
parties.
The Ministry is withholding the submissions from political parties in full under section
9(2)(ba)(i) of the Act to protect information that is subject to an obligation of confidence.
The full response wil explain the reasons for this.
2) Copies of the Ministry's enquiries to the political parties asking their views on
release of their submissions in response to OIA requests received from any other
requester seeking copies of the submissions.
3) Copies of the responses received by the Ministry from political parties in response to
the enquiries made by the Ministry about the OIA requests it received for copies of
their submissions.
The Ministry is refusing these parts of your request under section 18(e) of the Act as the
information does not exist. The full response wil elaborate on this.
4) A list of, and copies of, all emails, memos, briefings etc sent and received by people
working for the Ministry of Justice, including consultation with the Minister of Justice
or any of her officials, on the OIA requests received for copies of the submissions
received from political parties.
The Ministry is granting your request for this information, but with some redactions.
5) If the OIA requests for copies of submissions were discussed orally with the Minister
or any of her officials, the information held, in writing or in the heads of Ministry
officials, about any such conversation(s).
The Ministry is refusing this part of your request under section 18(e) of the Act as the
information does not exist. The full response wil elaborate on this.
6) Copies of all other information generated within the Ministry in the course of
processing the OIA requests for copies of the submissions received from political
parties.
There is no information that falls within this part that is not covered by part 4.
7) The date on which the Ministry wil publish the rest of the submissions it received in
response to the consultation on political donations.”
Copies of all the public submissions were published on 21 July 2022. They can be
found in eight parts under reference OIA 96540 here: justice.govt.nz/about/official-
information-act-requests/oia-responses/?Filter_Topic=40&Filter_Topic_child=75.
If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the Act. The Ombudsman may be contacted by
email to [email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
Antony Paltridge
Team Leader, Ministerial Relations and Services
