Correspondence relating to Gaza
Ms. Anderson made this Official Information request to Winston Peters
The request was refused by Winston Peters.
From: Ms. Anderson
Tēnā koe Rt Hon Minister Peters,
Thank you for your response on 29 January 2024 relating to correspondence received about Gaza.
I would like to make a follow up request for all correspondence that you or your office has received in your capacity as Minister of Defence from the date of my last request (10 December 2023) to today, 3 February 2024 (correspondence meaning any emails and physical mail), relating to the below subjects. Please provide separate numbers for correspondence in support of Palestine vs those that are in support of Israel.
Subjects of interest:
- Gaza
- Palestine
- Israel's actions towards Gaza/Palestine
- Operations in the Red Sea, or against Yemeni Houthi rebels.
Regarding phone calls received by the Minister's office, is there a process by which concerns relating to the Minister's portfolios are relayed to him? If there is, can you please describe this?
Thank you,
Ms. Anderson
From: Winston Peters (MIN)
Winston Peters
Dear Correspondent
Thank you for contacting Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister,
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister for Racing.
The Deputy Prime Minister considers all correspondence important and
appreciates you taking the time to write.
Please note that since the Deputy Prime Minister receives a large amount
of correspondence, it is not always possible to personally reply to all
emails.
The following guidelines apply:
· Invitations and requests to meet with the Deputy Prime Minister
will be processed as soon as possible and a staff member will be in
contact with you in due course.
· Media queries will be responded to by a staff member.
· Requests for official information will be managed in accordance
with provisions of the Official Information Act 1982, which may include
transfer to a more relevant Minister or agency.
· If your email falls outside of the Deputy Prime Minister's
portfolio responsibilities, expresses a personal view, or is copied to
multiple Members of Parliament, then your opinion will be noted and your
correspondence may be transferred to another office, or there may be no
further response to you.
· If your correspondence is to the Minister as the Member of
Parliament or Party Leader of New Zealand First, this may be referred to
the New Zealand First Leader’s office.
(If your invitation or meeting request is accepted - please note
information about meetings related to the Ministers’ portfolios will be
proactively released (this does not include personal or constituency
matters). For each meeting in scope, the summary would list: date, time
(start and finish), brief description, location, who the meeting was with,
and the portfolio. If you attend a meeting with the Minister on behalf of
an organisation, the name of the organisation will be released. If you are
a senior staff member at an organisation, or meet with the Minister in
your personal capacity, your name may also be released. The location of
the meeting will be released, unless it is a private residence. The
proactive release will be consistent with the provisions in the Official
Information Act, including privacy considerations. Under the Privacy Act
1993 you have the right to ask for a copy of any personal information we
hold about you, and to ask for it to be corrected if you think it is
wrong. If you’d like to ask for a copy of your information, or to have it
corrected, or are concerned about the release of your information in the
meeting disclosure, please contact the sender. You can read more about the
proactive release policy at
[1]https://www.dia.govt.nz/Proactive-Releas... )
(Please note that this acknowledgement is an automatically generated
email.)
Regards
The Office of Rt Hon Winston Peters
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Visible links
1. https://www.dia.govt.nz/Proactive-Releas...
From: Winston Peters (MIN)
Winston Peters
Dear Ms. Anderson,
I acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act (OIA) request dated
3 February 2024, in which you requested the following:
“I would like to make a follow up request for all correspondence that you
or your office has received in your capacity as Minister of Defence from
the date of my last request (10 December 2023) to today, 3 February 2024
(correspondence meaning any emails and physical mail), relating to the
below subjects. Please provide separate numbers for correspondence in
support of Palestine vs those that are in support of Israel.
Subjects of interest:
- Gaza
- Palestine
- Israel's actions towards Gaza/Palestine
- Operations in the Red Sea, or against Yemeni Houthi rebels.
Regarding phone calls received by the Minister's office, is there a
process by which concerns relating to the Minister's portfolios are
relayed to him? If there is, can you please describe this?”
We received your request on 5 February 2024. We will endeavour to respond
to your request as soon as possible and in any event no later than 5 March
2024, being 20 working days after the day your request was received. If we
are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an
extension of that timeframe.
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact our office. If any
additional factors come to light which are relevant to your request,
please do not hesitate to contact us so that these can be taken into
account.
Kind regards,
Private Secretary.
Office of Rt Hon Winston Peters
Deputy Prime Minister
Minister of Foreign Affairs |
Minister for Racing |
Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Winston Peters (MIN)
Winston Peters
Dear Ms Anderson
Further to your email of 3 February, we would appreciate clarification
that:
a. your OIA request is indeed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs not
Minister of Defence as noted in your request?
b. if your request is to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, please confirm
that you are wanting details on the number of correspondence received,
rather than the physical letters/emails?
Thanks and regards
Foreign Affairs Private Secretary
Office of Rt Hon Winston Peters
Deputy Prime Minister |
Minister of Foreign Affairs | Minister for Racing |
Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
-----Original Message-----
From: Ms. Anderson <[1][FOI #25618 email]>
Sent: Saturday, February 3, 2024 12:22 PM
To: Winston Peters (MIN) <[2][email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - Correspondence relating to Gaza
Tēnā koe Rt Hon Minister Peters,
Thank you for your response on 29 January 2024 relating to correspondence
received about Gaza.
I would like to make a follow up request for all correspondence that you
or your office has received in your capacity as Minister of Defence from
the date of my last request (10 December 2023) to today, 3 February 2024
(correspondence meaning any emails and physical mail), relating to the
below subjects. Please provide separate numbers for correspondence in
support of Palestine vs those that are in support of Israel.
Subjects of interest:
- Gaza
- Palestine
- Israel's actions towards Gaza/Palestine
- Operations in the Red Sea, or against Yemeni Houthi rebels.
Regarding phone calls received by the Minister's office, is there a
process by which concerns relating to the Minister's portfolios are
relayed to him? If there is, can you please describe this?
Thank you,
Ms. Anderson
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[3][FOI #25618 email]
Is [4][Winston Peters request email] the wrong address for Official
Information requests to Winston Peters? If so, please contact us using
this form:
[5]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:
[6]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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #25618 email]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[FOI #25618 email]
4. mailto:[Winston Peters request email]
5. https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
6. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
hide quoted sections
From: Ms. Anderson
Tēnā koe,
Thanks for seeking clarification. I had meant to write Minister of Foreign Affairs. Can you please define your use of correspondence? I would include emails and physical mail under correspondence.
Thank you,
Ms. Anderson
From: Ms. Anderson
Kia ora,
Could you please provide an update on the status of this request? I would like to know the number of correspondence received, counting both emails and physical mail.
Nā,
Ms. Anderson
From: Winston Peters (MIN)
Winston Peters
Dear Ms Anderson,
Per your last correspondence dated 9 February 2024, in which you clarified
that your original request was to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, I can
advise that we will respond as soon as possible and, in any event, no
later than 8 March 2024, being 20 working days after the day the request
was received.
Kind regards,
Private Secretary.
Office of Rt Hon Winston Peters
Deputy Prime Minister
Minister of Foreign Affairs |
Minister for Racing |
Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Winston Peters (MIN)
Winston Peters
Dear Ms Anderson
Please find attached a letter regarding your OIA request of 3 February
2024.
Kind regards
Foreign Affairs Private Secretary
Office of Rt Hon Winston Peters
Deputy Prime Minister |
Minister of Foreign Affairs | Minister for Racing |
Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Winston Peters (MIN)
Winston Peters
Dear Ms Anderson
Please find attached a response from the Minister of Foreign Affairs to
your email of 3 February 2024.
Kind regards
Foreign Affairs Private Secretary
Office of Rt Hon Winston Peters
Deputy Prime Minister |
Minister of Foreign Affairs | Minister for Racing |
Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Ms. Anderson
Tēnā koe,
Thank you for your reply. Can you please confirm that the aspect of this request that warrants refusal under section 18(f) is identifying the number correspondence of the total that are in support of Palestine vs Israel? I note that the office was able to answer my previous OIA for the number of correspondence relating to Gaza without this differentiation.
Nā,
Ms. Anderson
From: Winston Peters (MIN)
Winston Peters
Dear Ms Anderson
Thank you for your follow-up query.
Yes, that is correct. We are unable to provide a breakdown of
correspondence along the lines you have requested, as providing resource
to do so would have an unreasonable impact on this office's ability to
carry out its other functions. This part of your request was therefore
refused under section 18(f) of the OIA, as the information requested
cannot be made available without substantial collation or research.
Kind regards
Foreign Affairs Private Secretary
Office of Rt Hon Winston Peters
Deputy Prime Minister |
Minister of Foreign Affairs | Minister for Racing |
Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
-----Original Message-----
From: Ms. Anderson <[1][FOI #25618 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 9, 2024 8:35 PM
To: Winston Peters (MIN) <[2][email address]>
Subject: Re: OIA request to Rt Hon Winston Peters, Minister of Foreign
Affairs
Tēnā koe,
Thank you for your reply. Can you please confirm that the aspect of this
request that warrants refusal under section 18(f) is identifying the
number correspondence of the total that are in support of Palestine vs
Israel? I note that the office was able to answer my previous OIA for the
number of correspondence relating to Gaza without this differentiation.
Nā,
Ms. Anderson
-----Original Message-----
Dear Ms Anderson
Please find attached a response from the Minister of Foreign Affairs to
your email of 3 February 2024.
Kind regards
Foreign Affairs Private Secretary
Office of Rt Hon Winston Peters
Deputy Prime Minister |
Minister of Foreign Affairs | Minister for Racing |
Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[3][FOI #25618 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[4]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://fyi....
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #25618 email]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[FOI #25618 email]
4. https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/fyi.o...
hide quoted sections
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence