National Headquarters
Fire and Emergency New Zealand
National Headquarters
Spark Central, Level 7
42-52 Wil is Street
Wel ington Central
Wel ington 6011
Phone +64 4 496 3600
4 October 2024
Ref: 15616
Russell N
[FYI request #27998 email]
Tēnā koe Russel
Thank you for your request of 10 September 2024, to Fire and Emergency New Zealand requesting
information that fol owed on from a response we provided to you on 6 September 2024. Your
request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) and our response is
below.
1. Provide the original email (form submission) to NHQ Communications that outlined the
issue, redacting any personal information;
2. Confirmation if an existing member of Fire and Emergency New Zealand made the initial
complaint regarding the brand use;
The original email and any information relating to it is being withheld under the following sections
of the OIA:
• 9(2)(a), to protect the privacy of natural persons; and
• 9(2)(ba)(i), to protect information which is subject to an obligation of confidence or which
any person has been or could be compel ed to provide under the authority of any
enactment, where the making available of the information – would be likely to prejudice
the supply of similar information, or information from the same source, and it is in the
public interest that such information should continue to be supplied.
As was previously advised in our letter to you dated 6 September 2024, we consider this to be
subject to an obligation of confidence. We believe that there would be a chilling effect if people
were aware that their details and information they provide to us could be made public. People
may be less forthcoming with the information they provide to Fire and Emergency or may simply
choose not to report their concerns.
3. Confirmation if the persons involved with Beehive RP were existing members of Fire and
Emergency New Zealand;
This information is not held by Fire and Emergency. For this reason, this portion of your request is
refused under section 18(e) of the OIA, as the document al eged to contain the information
requested does not exist.
4. All external communications regarding this, such as a copy of any emails or letters sent to
Beehive RP;
Please find attached, as an
Appendix to this response, all external communications regarding this
matter. Some information has been withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the OIA, to protect the
privacy of natural persons.
Some information that is embedded within our release to you is outside the of scope of your
request and does not relate to the requested information. Where this has occurred, it will be
clearly labelled as out of scope.
Further external correspondence relating to Beehive RP, including letters sent to them, has been
withheld in ful under section 9(2)(h) of the OIA, to maintain legal professional privilege.
5. How many external companies were involved with the legal process of this matter;
We can advise Fire and Emergency engaged the services of one external law firm.
6. Was there liaison with other services such as New Zealand Police and Hato Hone St John on
this matter;
We can confirm there was liaison with New Zealand Police on this matter. The correspondence has
been provided in the attached
Appendix.
7. What is the total amount of time Fire and Emergency New Zealand spent investigating this
matter;
The work undertaken to investigate this matter includes several teams across Fire and Emergency
as part of their BAU, which means that the time taken is not recorded and we would be required
to create information by estimating how much of each team or individuals resource may have
been required. For this reason, this portion of your request is refused under section 18(e) of the
OIA, as the document al eged to contain the information requested does not exist.
8. Does Fire and Emergency New Zealand believe that by Beehive RP using this property, it
harms the reputation of FENZ?
Fire and Emergency considers that the unauthorised use of our trademarks and branding could be
misleading to the public and might impact our reputation as a fire and emergency services
organisation.
In making the above decisions, we have considered the public interest considerations in section
9(1) of the OIA.
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 www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
We trust that the information being provided is of assistance. If you require further information,
please email [FENZ request email].
Nāku noa, nā
Aidan Saunders
Manager, Information Requests
