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OIA24-305
Andy Langley
[FYI request #25175 email]
Dear Andy
I refer to your email dated 23 July 2024, requesting the following under the Official Information
Act 1982 (the Act):
“Now that more than 6 months have passed, I'd like to revisit this request1 and see
what progress, if any, has been made on this pre-election promise?
Please could you supply any relevant information you've received and also all related
correspondence between you and the Ministry of Transport on this matter?”
On 26 July 2024, we contacted you suggesting refining the second part of your request to:
“All policy advice you received from the Ministry of Transport and related
correspondence between you and The Ministry of Transport since October 2023
regarding government’s commitment to public EV charging.’’
23 documents have been identified as in scope of your request and are detailed in Annex 1.
The schedule outlines how the information has been treated under the Act.
Certain information is refused under the following section of the Act:
18(d) the information requested is or will soon be publicly available.
Certain information is withheld under the following sections of the Act:
9(2)(a)
to protect the privacy of natural persons
9(2)(f)(iv)
to maintain the constitutional conventions for the time being which
protect the confidentiality of advice tendered by Ministers of the Crown
and officials
9(2)(g)(i)
maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and
frank expression of opinions by or between or to Ministers of the
1 Your 23 July 2024 request referred to an earlier request from 14 December 2023 requesting:
“I was wondering if you can tel me the unit cost per install of the 10,000 EV chargers that you're proposing to
install as per your election campaign?
It would also be interesting to know about the frequency of the installations as 10,000 chargers in a 3 year term
equates to nearly 30 per day.
Could you please indicate where these chargers are likely to be located and who's going to operate them (and
make the money). Are they going to be overseen by ChargeNet who already operate a large network of charging
stations nationwide? If not, what are your proposals for accessing and paying for a charge as it's imperative that
charging doesn't need fragmentation in terms of multiple apps/RFID tags etc?”
Crown or members of an organisation or officers and employees of
any public service agency or organisation in the course of their duty
With regard to the information that has been withheld under section 9 of the Act, I am satisfied
that the reasons for withholding the information at this time are not outweighed by public
interest considerations that would make it desirable to make the information available.
For context in respect to your questions, I note that the goal of 10,000 charge points reflects
that New Zealand needs to increase the number of public chargers on the network. To
achieve this, a cross-agency Taskforce has been established to drive work and engage with
industry. This work programme is underway with a focus on transitioning the co-investment
model to maximise private sector investment, reduce red tape and address consenting
barriers to the installation of public EV chargers.
The locations and installation frequency of the 10,000 charge points will be guided by the
market, as it is best placed to identify where charging demand is highest. However, we
expect the 10,000 public charge points networks will provide comprehensive coverage
across the country, giving New Zealanders the confidence that they can charge their
vehicles where they need to.
I also note that the Ministry of Transport has previously proactively released some documents
relating to EV charging infrastructure. These can be found
here
You have the right to seek an investigation and review of this response by the Ombudsman,
in accordance with section 28(3) of the Act. The relevant details can be found on the
Ombudsman’s websit
e www.ombudsman.parliament.nz
Thank you again for writing.
Yours sincerely,
Hon Simeon Brown
Minister of Transport
Annex 1.
#
Document
Date
Title
Treatment under the Act
type
Briefings and Cabinet papers
1
Briefing
14 Feb 2024
OC230964 Initial
Refused under section 18(d) as the
Briefing on Electric information requested is publicly available on
vehicle charging
the Ministry’s website
here
network and
infrastructure
2
Briefing
1 May 2024
OC240440
Withheld in full under section 9(2)(f)(iv)
Objectives and
options for the
government co-
investment model
for EV charging
infrastructure
3
Briefing
4 Jun 2024
OC240520
Withheld in full under section 9(2)(f)(iv)
Options for EV
charging co-
investment model
4
Briefing
3 Jul 2024
OC240627
Withheld in full under section 9(2)(f)(iv)
Recommendations
on co-investment
model for electric
vehicle charging
infrastructure
Weekly reports
5
Weekly
2 February 2024
EV charging
Refused under section 18(d) as the
report
infrastructure
information requested is publicly available on
the Ministry’s website
here
6
Weekly
Week ending 9
EV charging
Refused under section 18(d) as the
report
Feb 2024
infrastructure
information requested is publicly available on
the Ministry’s website
here
8
Weekly
Week ending 16
EV charging deep
Refused under section 18(d) as the
report
February 2024
dive
information requested is publicly available on
the Ministry’s website
here
7
Weekly
Week ending 1
EV charging
Released in full
report
March 2024
8
Weekly
Week
Cabinet paper:
Released in full
report
commencing 25
Supercharging EV
March 2024
infrastructure work
programme
9
Weekly
As at Wednesday Supercharging EV
Refused under section 18(d) as the
report
17 April 2024
Infrastructure
information requested is publicly available on
the Ministry’s website
here
10
Weekly
As at Wednesday Meeting with the
Refused under section 18(d) as the
report
24 April 2024 –
Ministry of
information requested is publicly available on
Monday 22 April
transport. Actions
the Ministry’s website
here
2024
from officials –
meeting
11
Weekly
Weekly report as
EV charging
Refused under section 18(d) as the
report
at Wednesday 24
information requested is publicly available on
April 2024
the Ministry’s website
here
12
Weekly
Monday 6 May
Actions from
Refused under section 18(d) as the
report
2024
Transport officials
information requested will soon be publicly
meeting: EV
available on the Ministry’s website
charging work
programme
13
Weekly
As at Wednesday 8 EV charging
Refused under section 18(d) as the
report
May 2024
infrastructure
information requested will soon be publicly
available on the Ministry’s website
14
Weekly
As at Wednesday Meeting with the
Refused under section 18(d) as the
report
15 May 2024
Ministry of
information requested will soon be publicly
(Tuesday 14 May
Transport:
available on the Ministry’s website
2024)
Supercharging EV
15
Weekly
As at Wednesday Ongoing actions
Refused under section 18(d) as the
report
15 May 2024
from transport
information requested will soon be publicly
official’s meetings available on the Ministry’s website
16
Weekly
As at Wednesday EV Charging
Refused under section 18(d) as the
report
15 May 2024
infrastructure
information requested will soon be publicly
available on the Ministry’s website
17
Weekly
As at Wednesday EV charging work
Refused under section 18(d) as the
report
29 May 2024
programme
information requested will soon be publicly
available on the Ministry’s website
18
Weekly
As at Wednesday EV charging
Refused under section 18(d) as the
report
29 May
Infrastructure
information requested will soon be publicly
available on the Ministry’s website
.
Emails
20
Email
19 March 2024
RE: ATTN DOM: EV Some information withheld under section
charging CBA
9(2)(a)
approach
21
Email
22 March 2024
Supercharging EV
Withheld under section 9(2)(a) and section
infrastructure Cab
9(2)(g)(i).
paper
22
Email
25 March 2024
FW: Joint MBIE/
Some information withheld under section
MoT cabinet paper 9(2)(a)
on EV charging,
working with ECCA
Other documents
23
Word
10 June 2024
Co-investment
Withheld in full under section 9(2)(f)(iv)
document
options A3 for
discussion with
Minister.docx