4 October 2023
Harris Lee
[FYI request #24036 email]
Dear Harris
Thank you for your Official Information Act (OIA) request, received on 5 September
2023. You requested:
RBNZ under the RBNZ Act 2001.
Can you please provide any information held on the requirement for political
neutrality for the RBNZ Chair.
In particular I am interested in any correspondence you have had with Chair or
the Governor on this matter or any advice you have received from the Public
Service Commission or Commissioner or the Treasury on this matter.
For context, I refer you to reporting that shows the Chair of the RBNZ was
actively working with the National Party to promote its election chances
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/497281/university-of-waikato-boss-referred-
to-new-medical-school-as-a-present-for-future-national-government
Specifical y I refer you to the statement: "The first student intake would be 2027 -
a present to you to start your second term in government!" as the Chair of the
RBNZ wrote in a March 2023 email to National Party MP Shane Reti.
Every year I send a letter of expectations to the RBNZ. It is important that board
members, including the Chair, work in line with the Letter of Expectations to the
Reserve Bank. I am confident Professor Quigley and the Board are aware of that.
A copy of the Letter of Expectations
https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/-/media/project/sites/rbnz/files/publications/letters-of-
expectation/letter-of-expectations-2023-2024.pdf.
I hold no information on the requirement for political neutrality for the RBNZ chair. I
have not corresponded with the Chair or Governor on the requirement for the political
neutrality of the RBNZ Chair. I have not received any advice from the Treasury or PSC
on this matter.
Therefore, I am refusing your request in full under section 18(e) of the OIA, as the
document al eged to contain the information requested does not exist.
This reply addresses the information you requested. You have the right to ask the
Ombudsman to investigate and review my decision.
Yours sincerely
Hon Grant Robertson
Minister of Finance