8 November 2023
Ref: DOIA 2324-0957
Kylie
[FYI request #24547 email]
Tēnā koe Kylie
Thank you for your email of 27 October 2023 to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
(MBIE) requesting the following, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act),
Has the agency or any staff received external or internal instruction, direction or guidance, written
or oral, to prepare, develop, review or edit briefings to incoming ministers with a view to removing
the use of the word ‘Aotearoa’ or other te Reo Māori? If so, what was the instruction received
(either copies of meeting minutes/emails/other document or via a summary of the memory of
staff involved in the discussion(s).
This letter follows up on my response of 24 November 2023.
In the development of the 17 final Briefings to Incoming Ministers (BIMs), MBIE fol owed guidance set out
in the
Cabinet Manual for how agencies should prepare briefings for incoming Ministers. In particular:
• Section 3.20: The written briefing should be tailored to the needs of the new Minister and
prepared in similar presentation and style to other agency advice to the Minister. The level of
detail included in this initial briefing will vary, depending on whether the Minister concerned has
had any prior involvement with the portfolio, and whether there has been a change of
government.
• Section 3.22, which states the written briefing is the first part of an ongoing process of briefing
the new Minister. Its purpose is to give the Minister sufficient information to meet their initial
requirements. This initial briefing will need to be supplemented, over a number of weeks, with
further written or oral briefings as required.
The direction provided by MBIE to staff involved in producing BIMs fol owed this guidance and focused on
the need for consistency of format, content and terminology across al documents and keeping them
concise. This is because the focus of these initial briefings is to ensure MBIE is providing informative and
immediate information to enable new Ministers to get up to speed in the portfolios they lead.
MBIE has not made changes to its use of te reo Māori, and we continue to encourage its use across our
organisation.
Your request
We appreciate your patience while the final part of your response was being prepared.
As noted in my previous response, given the number of BIMs MBIE is responsible for producing, there
was a significant programme of work across the organisation to brief incoming Ministers. To respond to
your request required searching for and assessing a significant number of documents.
Five documents were found in scope of your request, which are outlined in
Appendix One to this letter.
In line with sections 16(1)(e), 16(2)(c), section 9(2)(g)(i) and 9(1) of the OIA, I have extracted three pieces
of material from its source document; the information concerned is listed in
Appendix One to this letter,
and the extracted material is contained in
Appendix Two.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request or this response, or if you require any further assistance,
please contac
t [email address].
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision. Information
about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802
602.
Nāku noa, nā
Melanie Porter
Deputy Secretary, Te Waka Pūtahitanga
Appendix One
List of documents in scope
Please note, information has been redacted from Documents 3 and 4 under section 9(2)(a) of the OIA, to
protect the privacy of natural persons.
Doc Date
Title
1
11 October 2023
Key findings from review on initial draft BIMs
Notes about early BIM structure from Mark Steel, Director, Regulatory
Systems and Lesley McConnell, Head of the Office of the Deputy
Secretary, Buildings, Resources and Markets
Refer to
Appendix Two for extracted information
2
13 October 2023
Comment from Melanie Porter regarding the draft BIM suggesting
replacement of the following line:
Māori firms tend to innovate more, drawing on kaupapa and
mōhiotanga Māori
With
The Productivity Commission found that Māori SMEs are more likely to
export and have higher rates of innovation and research and
development than other New Zealand firms.
Refer to
Appendix Two for extracted information
3
24 October 2023
Smal Business BIM proofread
Email
4
24 October 2023
Action: CCA BIM proof reading – due tomorrow (Wednesday) midday
Email
5
27 October 2023
Key Review Messages for Al MBIE BIMS
Notes about BIM content
Refer to
Appendix Two for extracted information
Appendix Two
Extractions from Documents 1, 2 and 5
Document 1
Key Review Messages for Al MBIE BIMS
12 Peer review thoroughly for language and tone. Suggest could be Use consistent wording in
done by swapping BIMs across teams – that is generally a good
all BIMs:
way to pick up language and jargon that the team may not notice o Use the term ‘New
Zealand’ rather than
‘Aotearoa New Zealand’
o Use the term ‘Treaty of
Waitangi’ rather than ‘Te
Tiriti o Waitangi’
o Use ‘Distribution’ when
referring to ‘Inclusion’
Document 2
Comment from Melanie Porter regarding draft Briefing to the Incoming Minister
13 October 2023
Please note, this is reproduced verbatim, and is an incomplete sentence.
Melanie Porter
Depending on their fluency in te reo, the reader wil not know what mōhiotanga Māori means. Can we
Document 5
Key findings from review on initial draft BIMs
Consistency Issues
Nomenclature
o [MS] Nomenclature. “New Zealand” or “Aotearoa New Zealand”? Or are we quite happy to vary, both
within and between BIMs? NB, S9(1)(b) of the Māori Language Act 2016 establishes a principle that,
as far as reasonably practicable, departments of State should use the Māori language in the provision
of Government services. I know advice to ministers may not strictly be a government service, but the
principle holds.
Māori - Crown / Treaty of Waitangi
[…]
o [LM] Inconsistent use of Crown-Māori vs Māori-Crown.
4
From:
Sent:
Tuesday, 24 October 2023 12:21 PM
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Action: CCA BIM proof reading - due tomorrow (Wednesday) midday [IN
CONFIDENCE]
v"'-
�
Hello,
�
Thank you for volunteering to proof read the CCA BIM. We would like to take you up on your offer. Ple���ur
proofing done by tomorrow midday (Wednesday). If other work has come up and you are now un�l�p/oof read,
please let me know ASAP so I can reassign your pages to someone else.
41"'"
Please see below your sections to proof. If possible, please use word on line so multiple peGol��e in the
document at once:
�
,
: sections 1-3, pages 4-14
•
sections 4-5, pages 15-26
/
•
O"
�
�
section 6 and part of Annex 1 (to the end of the financial market�- pages 27-35
•
second part of Annex 1 (consumer & commercial - trade & i��sive - pages 36-46)
•
Annex 2 (pages 46-56)
,
•
Annex 3 is a WIP so we'll leave this one off the proofing list f
n�
Please follow the MBIE style guide when providing your proofing f �
�a ack: MBIE writing style guide
(sharepoint.coml. Please also check we have referenced all the�"'a le numbers and annexes.
We have b�en told to use and avoid certain terms, so if �
}°
�ny terms that are incorrect, please flag and suggest
an alternative:
"
•
Do not use the term wellbeing
•
Aotearoa New Zealand - should be e
Q
ealand
•
Refer to 'Maori Crown Relations' (no
�
�ft - Crown, Crown-Maori or other variation)
•
Use plain English and avoid jarg� 1 anguage and tone
• Can you also critically look at the Bl� language - this is the Minister's portfolio and his/ her work
programme. Please remov�eference to 'our' regulatory system, 'our work' etc.
Oliver did a scout of key phr�<G,�the National Party have used in its policy documents. You could bear these in
mind for wording sugges!io�V
•
"Strong econo� preface to addressing many issues, such as the cost-of-living crisis, investing in public
services, ancM't! jages, etc.
•
"Workin�O\aliNew Zealanders"
•
"Fisc_Jtf�fine"
•
"e�it growth/potential/productivity"
•
"in\le tment".
Thl(,�o much, and let me
know ;f you
have any quesfons
or concerns
�¢im;h;,
(she/ her)
SENIOR POLICY ADVISOR
Consumer Policy team I Building, Resources and Markets
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
1
OIA 9(2)(a)
@mbie.govt.nz | Telephone: OIA 9(2)(a)
25 The Terrace , Wellington 6011 | PO Box 2526, Wellington 6140
NZBN 942900010607
ACT
INFORMATION
RELEASED UNDER THE OFFICIAL
2
Document Outline
