[1]Hamilton City Council | Te kauniherao Kirikiriroa
Kia ora,

Your information request
We write to acknowledge receipt of your information request about Elective
member association to Freemasons NZ in last 5 years. Your information
request has been processed on 05/03/2024 and passed on to the relevant
team within Council for a response. The Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA) requires that we advise you on
whether Council will provide the requested information as soon as
reasonably practicable, and no later than 20 working days after the day we
receive your request.

We will respond to you no later than 04/04/2024 .

Urgent requests
If you have asked for your request to be processed urgently,the team will
try to meet the date you have specified. However it may not always be
possible to meet your timeframe due to staff resourcing, and the size and
complexity of your request.

Fees & Charges
There is typically no charge, however the decision to chargewill be made
at Hamilton City Council's discretion and in alignment with our [2]LGOIMA
Charging Policy.

If there is a charge to be applied, Hamilton City Council will notify you
prior to incurring the charge.

Our management policy regarding charging is supported by theMinistry of
Justice Charging Guidelines for OIA requests.

You are entitled to three hours free and 20 pages of photocopying free of
charge. After that, charges of $38 per 30 minutes, and 20 cents per page
of photocopying applies. We may also recover any other actual costs, such
as special consultancy fees or other materials. This is set out in our
Fees & Charges Schedule [3]here.

Pro-active release of information
One of the key purposes of LGOIMA is to make information more freely
available, which promotes good government and trust and confidence in
public services. Proactively releasing completed OIA requests that may be
of interest to the wider public can help reduce the need for individuals
to make requests for information and it can reduce the work for Council in
responding to requests. Before publishing information personal and other
identifying details are redacted. Generally, where a request relates to a
narrow topic, these requests won't be published. You can search previous
published OIA responses [4]here.

COVID-19
There may be delays to OIA responses due to COVID-19 and other seasonal
illness impacting staff capacity both in the OIA team and across our
business. While we will aim to meet out statutory timeframes, a response
to your request may take longer than expected, or the timeframe for
responding to your request may be extended under LGOIMA.

Ombudsman
If you are unhappy with our response or our management of your information
request, you have the right to complain to the Office of the Ombudsman.
The Chief Ombudsman recommends contacting us in the first instance to see
if we can resolve the issue before a complaint is made. You can read more
about what help the Ombudsman can provide [5]here.

Contact us
If you have any concerns or further questions about your request, please
[6]email us.

Ngaa mihi,
The Official Information Team
© 2019 Hamilton City Council. All rights reserved.

Hamilton City Council
260 Anglesea Street
Hamilton 3204

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[7]Hamilton City Council | Te kauniherao Kirikiriroa
Kia ora,

Your information request
We write to acknowledge receipt of your information request about Elective
member association to Freemasons NZ in last 5 years. Your information
request has been processed on 05/03/2024 and passed on to the relevant
team within Council for a response. The Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA) requires that we advise you on
whether Council will provide the requested information as soon as
reasonably practicable, and no later than 20 working days after the day we
receive your request.

We will respond to you no later than 04/04/2024 .

Urgent requests
If you have asked for your request to be processed urgently,the team will
try to meet the date you have specified. However it may not always be
possible to meet your timeframe due to staff resourcing, and the size and
complexity of your request.

Fees & Charges
There is typically no charge, however the decision to chargewill be made
at Hamilton City Council's discretion and in alignment with our [8]LGOIMA
Charging Policy.

If there is a charge to be applied, Hamilton City Council will notify you
prior to incurring the charge.

Our management policy regarding charging is supported by theMinistry of
Justice Charging Guidelines for OIA requests.

You are entitled to three hours free and 20 pages of photocopying free of
charge. After that, charges of $38 per 30 minutes, and 20 cents per page
of photocopying applies. We may also recover any other actual costs, such
as special consultancy fees or other materials. This is set out in our
Fees & Charges Schedule [9]here.

Pro-active release of information
One of the key purposes of LGOIMA is to make information more freely
available, which promotes good government and trust and confidence in
public services. Proactively releasing completed OIA requests that may be
of interest to the wider public can help reduce the need for individuals
to make requests for information and it can reduce the work for Council in
responding to requests. Before publishing information personal and other
identifying details are redacted. Generally, where a request relates to a
narrow topic, these requests won't be published. You can search previous
published OIA responses [10]here.

COVID-19
There may be delays to OIA responses due to COVID-19 and other seasonal
illness impacting staff capacity both in the OIA team and across our
business. While we will aim to meet out statutory timeframes, a response
to your request may take longer than expected, or the timeframe for
responding to your request may be extended under LGOIMA.

Ombudsman
If you are unhappy with our response or our management of your information
request, you have the right to complain to the Office of the Ombudsman.
The Chief Ombudsman recommends contacting us in the first instance to see
if we can resolve the issue before a complaint is made. You can read more
about what help the Ombudsman can provide [11]here.

Contact us
If you have any concerns or further questions about your request, please
[12]email us.

Ngaa mihi,
The Official Information Team
© 2019 Hamilton City Council. All rights reserved.

Hamilton City Council
260 Anglesea Street
Hamilton 3204

References

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12. mailto:[Hamilton City Council request email]?subject=RE: Request 387477/2024

Kia ora,

 

We refer to your information request below. Hamilton City Council provides
the following response.

 

Your request:

 

I request any and all correspondence, memos, or documents pertaining to
Hamilton City Councilors' membership in Freemasons New Zealand within the
last five years. This should include any discussions, notifications, or
acknowledgments regarding City Councilors' affiliations with Freemasons
New Zealand, as well as any concerns or discussions regarding potential
conflicts of interest arising from such memberships.

Additionally, please provide any documentation or correspondence that
discusses any actual or perceived conflicts of interest arising from City
Councilors' membership in Freemasons New Zealand.

Furthermore, I am aware that one current and at least one former City
Councilor has been a member of Freemasons New Zealand. Therefore, please
include any relevant correspondence, memos, or documents pertaining to
this former City Councilor's membership in Freemasons New Zealand and any
discussions or actions taken regarding potential conflicts of interest
during their tenure.

If there are any clarifications needed or additional information required
to fulfill this request, please let me know as soon as possible.

I understand that a decision on this request should be made within 20
working days of receiving it. If you require assistance or guidance in
handling this request, please refer to the Ombudsman's website at
[1]https://us-west-2.protection.sophos.com?....

 

Our response:

 

Elected Members are required to disclose conflicts of interests as they
arise and update their Declaration of Interest Form every six months.
Please refer to [2]Hamilton City Council Code of Conduct for further
information on the responsibility of Elected Members in relation to
conflicts of interest. The Hamilton City Council’s Register of Elected
Member Interests is a summary of the information provided by each Elected
Member in their completed Declaration of Interest Form for this term can
be found [3]here on our website. The current triennium runs from October
2022 through to October 2025. The previous triennium conflict of interest
is attached for you. This triennium ran from October 2019 through to
October 2022.

 

As part of each Council or Committee meeting there is an item titled
‘Declaration of Interest – Tauaakii whaipaanga’. The purpose of this item
is to remind Members of the need to be vigilant to stand aside from
decision making when a conflict arises between their role as an elected
representative and any private or other external interest they might have
and to receive these declarations. Any declaration are recorded as part of
the minutes of the meeting which you can access [4]here.

 

Ultimately, it is up to each member’s own judgement as to whether they
have an interest that needs to be disclosed or declared, and what action
they take (if any) as a consequence.

 

We are aware that former Cr Mark Bunting and current Cr Geoff Taylor are
members of Freemasons New Zealand. We are not aware of any other
memberships to Freemasons New Zealand.

 

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
[5]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.

 

Ngaa mihi

Keeley Faulkner

Official Information Coordinator

Governance & Assurance Team | Business Services

Email: [6][Hamilton City Council request email]

Hamilton City Council | Private Bag 3010 | Hamilton 3240 |
[7]www.hamilton.govt.nz
[8]http://data.hcc.govt.nz/branding/faceboo... us on Facebook
[10]http://data.hcc.govt.nz/branding/twitter... us on Twitter
This email and any attachments are strictly confidential and may contain
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delete the message and notify the sender. You should not read, copy, use,
change, alter, disclose or deal in any manner whatsoever with this email
or its attachments without written authorisation from the originating
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the content of this email, or any attachment, shall not be considered as
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views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and may
not necessarily reflect the views of Hamilton City Council.

 

I support flexibility at work. While it suits me to send this email now, I
don’t expect a response outside of your own working hours. 

 

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