Tçnâ koe Chris

Thank you for your email of 22 January.

Your request has been passed on to the team best placed to consider the matters raised. Our Office will be in touch in due course.

Ngâ mihi

Enquiry mailbox
04 917 1500| [email address]
Office of the Auditor-General Te Mana Arotake
Improving trust, promoting value
Level 2, 100 Molesworth Street, Thorndon, Wellington 6011 | PO Box 3928 Wellington 6140
oag.parliament.nz | Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and Instagram

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Johnston <[FOI #25466 email]>
Sent: Monday, January 22, 2024 7:14 PM
To: enquiry <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - Compliance with Accounting Standards re COVID19 Vaccine Indemnity and Penalty Clauses

[You don't often get email from [FOI #25466 email]. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific... ]

CAUTION External email: Unless you are certain the email is from a trusted source, DO NOT click links or open attachments.

Dear Office of the Controller and Auditor-General,

Could you please provide:
1) Any advice provided around compliance of government agencies with accounting standards on contingent liabilities estimated and logged on the balance sheets (or notes/footnotes) for the COVID19 vaccine indemnity provided to the manufacturers (or penalty clauses) under the associated contracts (herein referred to as “this area”). This advice might be to the government agency or to Ministers (for example).
2) Any results of audits your entity has undertaken of agencies where an observation or finding has been made in this area.
3) Any copies of Audits undertaken by others (eg in signing off accounts as a true reflection) where comments or findings have been made in this area.
4) Any Records where concerns have been raised about provisions, lack of provision or treatment of the financial risk in this area. This might be from within your office or from third parties (eg emails).

This OIA covers the period leading up to the negotiation and signing of the contract in this area till the present day.

To help focus your search my understanding is that MBIE signed and purchased the vaccines and agencies that might be involved in the implications of the indemnity and any penalty clauses include the areas of Health (higher utilisation from morbidity/mortality), ACC (injuries), Treasury (fiduciary responsibility and govt solvency). There may be others where my understanding is incorrect, or State assets are mentioned in the contract.

For context you may find this OIA interesting and the answer worth tracking. A similar question from another angle.
https://fyi.org.nz/request/24922-conting...

5) Has your office seen the contracts in this area? Do you have copies?

Finally - 6) Does the Auditor General have any concerns about a) these contracts and b) their treatment in the government accounts. What are these concerns (if any). Please provide any additional documentation (not covered above) to illustrate how these concerns have been raised/highlighted.

I am a New Zealand citizen that resides here and pays taxes.

Yours faithfully,
Chris Johnston

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #25466 email]

Is [Office of the Controller and Auditor-General request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests to Office of the Controller and Auditor-General? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________________________
The information contained in this email message is intended only
for the addressee and is not necessarily the official view or
communication of the Office of the Auditor-General.
If you are not the intended recipient you must not use,
disclose, copy or distribute this message or the information on it.

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Tçnâ koe Chris

 

Thank you for your email of 22 January 2024.

 

In the first instance, this information can be requested under the
Official Information Act from the public entity itself. As such, you may
like to consider directing your request directly to the relevant
organisation or minister.

 

The Public Audit Act 2001 protects the confidentiality of the
Auditor-General’s investigative and audit work. The Auditor-General is not
subject to the Official Information Act 1982. There’s more information
about this on our [1]website.

 

We have previously reported on the [2]Co-ordination of the
all-of-government response to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, which may be
of interest. We took an independent look at what happened in 2020, to
understand how resources and efforts were co-ordinated as the pandemic
unfolded. All of our other work about the public sector response to
Covid-19 can also be found on our [3]website.  

 

Thanks again for writing.

 

Ngâ mihi

 

Shauna

Enquiry mailbox

04 917 1500| [email address]

Office of the Auditor-General Te Mana Arotake

Improving trust, promoting value

Level 2, 100 Molesworth Street, Thorndon, Wellington 6011 | PO Box 3928
Wellington 6140

oag.parliament.nz | Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and
Instagram

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Johnston <[FOI #25466 email]>
Sent: Monday, January 22, 2024 7:14 PM
To: enquiry <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - Compliance with Accounting
Standards re COVID19 Vaccine Indemnity and Penalty Clauses

 

[You don't often get email from
[4][FOI #25466 email]. Learn why this is
important at [5]https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific... ]

 

CAUTION External email: Unless you are certain the email is from a trusted
source, DO NOT click links or open attachments.

 

Dear Office of the Controller and Auditor-General,

 

Could you please provide:

1) Any advice provided around compliance of government agencies with
accounting standards on contingent liabilities estimated and logged on the
balance sheets (or notes/footnotes) for the COVID19 vaccine indemnity
provided to the manufacturers (or penalty clauses) under the associated
contracts (herein referred to as “this area”). This advice might be to the
government agency or to Ministers (for example).

2) Any results of audits your entity has undertaken of agencies where an
observation or finding has been made in this area.

3) Any copies of Audits undertaken by others (eg in signing off accounts
as a true reflection) where comments or findings have been made in this
area.

4) Any Records where concerns have been raised about provisions, lack of
provision or treatment of the financial risk in this area. This might be
from within your office or from third parties (eg emails).

 

This OIA covers the period leading up to the negotiation and signing of
the contract in this area till the present day.

 

To help focus your search my understanding is that MBIE signed and
purchased the vaccines and agencies that might be involved in the
implications of the indemnity and any penalty clauses include the areas of
Health (higher utilisation from morbidity/mortality), ACC (injuries),
Treasury (fiduciary responsibility and govt solvency).  There may be
others where my understanding is incorrect, or State assets are mentioned
in the contract.

 

For context you may find this OIA interesting and the answer worth
tracking.  A similar question from another angle.

[6]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

5) Has your office seen the contracts in this area? Do you have copies?

 

Finally - 6) Does the Auditor General have any concerns about a) these
contracts and b) their treatment in the government accounts. What are
these concerns (if any).  Please provide any additional documentation (not
covered above) to illustrate how these concerns have been
raised/highlighted.

 

I am a New Zealand citizen that resides here and pays taxes.

 

Yours faithfully,

Chris Johnston

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

 

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[7][FOI #25466 email]

 

Is [8][Office of the Controller and Auditor-General request email] the wrong address for Official Information
requests to Office of the Controller and Auditor-General? If so, please
contact us using this form:

[9]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[10]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

_______________________________________________________________
The information contained in this email message is intended only for the
addressee and is not necessarily the official view or communication of the
Office of the Auditor-General.
If you are not the intended recipient you must not use, disclose, copy or
distribute this message or the information on it.

 

References

Visible links
1. https://oag.parliament.nz/contact-us/ask...
2. https://oag.parliament.nz/2022/covid-19
3. https://oag.parliament.nz/reports/covid-19
4. mailto:[FOI #25466 email]
5. https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific...
6. https://fyi.org.nz/request/24922-conting...
7. mailto:[FOI #25466 email]
8. mailto:[Office of the Controller and Auditor-General request email]
9. https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
10. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

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