Our reference: qA98801
Enquiries to: Lyndon Cleaver
Email: [email address]
11 July 2024
Marie
[FYI request #27225 email] Dear Marie,
Official information request for investigations and prosecutions under the maritime transport 1994
I refer to your official information request dated 17 June 2024 and received by Environment
Southland on 25 June 2024 for information regarding prosecutions and investigations under the
Maritime Transport Act.
The information you have requested is below.
1. Could you please advise of any investigations and prosecutions by your council under the
Maritime Transport Act 1994 in the last 10 years (or timeframe that doesn’t invoke the too
must work refusal clause).
We have only investigated and taken enforcement action in one instance under the Maritime Transport
Act 1994 in the past 10 years. This was an incident at Riverton involving a recreational fishing boat and
a rowing skiff. It did not meet the threshold for prosecution and an infringement was issued.
2. Your internal procedures/manuals and other documents in relation to whether you investigate and
prosecute or Maritime New Zealand does.
There is a requirement to report all maritime incidents/accidents to both Maritime New Zealand and
the Harbourmaster in the first instance. As a matter of due course Maritime NZ will determine if the
incident meets their threshold for investigation or it is passed over to the Regional Council for
investigation consideration. There is no formal process for how this happens or who investigates a
particular incident.
3. What is your understanding (any agreements or memorandum of understanding with Maritime New
Zealand) on decisions and how those decisions are made as to whether you or Maritime NZ investigate
recreational boating incidents.
As above
4. Please provide your standard operating procedures for investigating and
prosecuting under the Maritime Transport Act 1994 (or general if not
specific).
Investigations and enforcement action will generally be undertaken by Environment Southland’s
Resource Management team, with support and expert advice from the Harbourmaster or his
representative. This will be carried out in line with the Enforcement Policy available on our website
(https://www.es.govt.nz/environment/compliance/compliance-information)
5. Please
provide
the
criteria
used
to
determine
if
you
investigate
an
recreation boating incident.
All incidents/accidents are required to be reported to the Harbourmaster. The Harbourmaster will
usually gather some initial information to determine if there is a reason to investigate further, for
example whether there has been a potential breach of the Environment Southland Navigation Safety
Bylaws.
6. Please provide the code of conduct and conflict of interest policy in relation to your investigators. For
example, if a victim and complainant in a recreational boat incident is a friend of one of your
investigators or officers, and then they called your officer on a weekend, then went your officers house
to complain about the incident and told your officer how angry they were about the other people on
board, and their treatment etc…(when police and harbour master were already aware of the incident
and choose not to act) would your officer then be able to recommend and lead an investigation into
the accident including making recommendations to prosecute the people the officers friend was angry
at? (This situation did not involve your council, or other councils, but was a situation with an officer
from a govt department investigating an incident under the circumstances described). I am not trying
to get an opinion, rather demonstrate the angle I am taking regards policies and documents that relate
to this and would either allow or disallow that example to happen in your organisation.
Conflict of interest is covered within our Enforcement Policy and references the Conflict of Interest
Statement within our staff handbook. In 2018 our organisational Conflict of Interest Policy was
developed and is available on our website
(https://www.es.govt.nz/about-us/plans-and-
strategies/policies/conflict-of-interest-policy).
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this response.
Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
If you wish to discuss this response with us, please feel free to contact Lyndon Cleaver.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Hulse
General Manager, Integrated Catchment Management
