Dear Kaitaia College,

It has been reported that following media enquires relating to the Lennox Goodhue-Wikitera incident that the Kaitaia College Board of Trustees engaged the services of a Media Strategist.

Please provide:
1) Copies of all quotes, documents, emails, communications and invoices relating to this incident.
2) Details on whether any associated costs relating to the engagement of a Media Strategist are being paid via Kaitaia College's operational budget or via the Board of Trustees themselves.
3) Details on any other costs incurred as a result of this incident.

Yours faithfully,

Duncan Cordes

Dear Louise Anaru,

I can confirm that as per Part 2, S12.1 of the New Zealand Official Information Act 1982 that I am meet the requirements to request information under this Act.

Yours sincerely,

Duncan Cordes

Link: https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/publ...

Dear Louise Anaru,

I believe that I have provided all required proof of eligibility to request information under the 1982 Official Information Act 1982 Act, however please find attached a copy of my Tauranga Library Card as additional proof and note for it to be issued it required the provision of:
1) Proof of identity, with your name and signature, such as driver’s licence, student I.D., or passport.
2) Proof of your home address, such as a power bill or bank statement addressed to you.

I also refer you to the Ombudsman's A guide to requests made through fyi.org.nz and social media document (https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/reso...) publication, specifically:

"Agencies are entitled to make reasonable enquiries to satisfy themselves that a requester is
eligible to make a request under the OIA. However, the eligibility requirement is not about
imposing unnecessary barriers to legitimate requests. Agencies should only query eligibility if
there is a genuine need to do so, and they should be mindful of their obligation to provide
reasonable assistance to requesters.7 Time taken to confirm eligibility may mean less time is
available for processing a request that is subsequently confirmed to be valid. With that in
mind, agencies should endeavour to resolve any doubts about a requester’s eligibility as soon
as possible.

Querying eligibility can be tricky if an agency’s exchanges with the requester are taking place in
the public domain (as they are in FYI requests, tweets and Facebook posts, but not direct or
personal messages). The best way to do this may be to reply to the requester (preferably at the
same time the request is acknowledged), explaining the eligibility requirements, and providing
the name and contact details of a staff member the requester can contact privately in order to
provide the assurance required regarding eligibility.

Even if the requester turns out to be ineligible to make a request under the OIA, agencies
should still provide a reasonable response, as their response could be investigated under the
Ombudsmen Act 1975 (if the agency is subject to that Act). Agencies may also decide it doesn’t
really matter whether the requester is eligible or not, because they’d be perfectly happy to
supply the information to any person regardless of eligibility. "

Yours sincerely,

Duncan Cordes

Dear Louise Anaru,

I have been unable to forward a copy of my Library Card as per my previous correspondence, however if you provide you email address I will be happy to do so directly via Email.

Yours sincerely,

Duncan Cordes

Dear Louise Anaru,

It has already been provided to l a n a r u @ k a i t a i a c o l l e g e . s c h o o l . n z [spaces inserted to enable parsing via the fyi.org.nz website] as the email address you refer to as "below" is not being displayed.

Yours sincerely,

Duncan Cordes

Dear Louise Anaru,

I believe the information provided to date fully complies with the legal requirements as outlined within Section 2.12 of the Official Information Act 1982. As you disagree I request that please state what part of the Act you are forming your opinion on and what form Identification as per this ACT you would find compliant.

I also again refer you to the Ombudsman Request made Online Guide which states:
"Who is the requester and why do they want the information?
Many agencies consider this to be important information, but under the OIA the identity of the
requester is only strictly required for the purpose of establishing eligibility. (There are no
eligibility restrictions under the LGOIMA.5)"

And

"Agencies that receive online requests may have limited information with which to establish a
requester’s eligibility.

An agency that gets a request via FYI will receive the requester’s name and a computer
generated ‘@requests.fyi.org.nz’ email address. FYI recommends that requesters use their real
name. An agency that gets a request via Twitter or Facebook can check the user’s online profile. This may have information about their location, work and education that is sufficient to
satisfy an agency as to a requester’s eligibility. However, the extent of information displayed is
up to the user.

Agencies are entitled to make reasonable enquiries to satisfy themselves that a requester is
eligible to make a request under the OIA. However, the eligibility requirement is not about
imposing unnecessary barriers to legitimate requests. Agencies should only query eligibility if
there is a genuine need to do so, and they should be mindful of their obligation to provide
reasonable assistance to requesters."

I also remind you of the Ombudsman advice:
"Time taken to confirm eligibility may mean less time is available for processing a request that is subsequently confirmed to be valid." which as this request was made on August 26 means that the allowed 20 days to process it will expire on September 20.

Yours sincerely,

Duncan Cordes

Dear Louise Anaru,

As noted the provided Identification has been issued by a Nationally recognised Local Government body and as previously advised in order to obtain requires:
1) Proof of Identity, containing my Name and Signature
2) Proof of my Home Address.

As such the provided identification meets all specified requirements under Part 2.12 of the Official Information Act 1982 in that it sufficiently provides proof that I am:
a) A New Zealand citizen; or
b) A permanent resident of New Zealand; or
c) A person who is in New Zealand; or
d) A body corporate which is incorporated in New Zealand; or
e) A body corporate which is incorporated outside of New Zealand but which has a place of business
in New Zealand.

I also wish to note that there is no specified form of identification required under the Official Information Act 1982 only that you are satisfied that the above stated requirements from Part 2.12 of the Act are met. As by any reasonable expectation this requirement is clearly being met and further more based on the numerous articles there is a clear public interest in this request I believe that you are imposing unnecessary barriers to a lawful and legitimate request.

As such I wish to advise you that if this information is not provided within the legally required 20 working day response time (September 20) I will be laying a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman.

Yours sincerely,

Duncan Cordes