22 October 2024
Jimmy King
[FYI request #28480 email]
Ref: PMO OIA 129-2024-25
Dear Jimmy King
Official Information Act request: Media requests September 2024
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) request, received on 4 October
2024. You requested:
“Would you be able to do the media request just September of this year instead?”
For clarity, your request is a follow up to an earlier request made on 23 September 2024 for:
Prime minister Christopher Luxon media request diary.
On 24 September 2024 you refined this request to the following:
“I would like it to be from March of this year to now. I am looking for his media request,
how many request he has had to go on the radio or TV or how many interviews he has
declined.”
On 30 September 2024, we refused this request in full. Under section 18(d) we refused
accepted media requests as these engagements are published in the ministerial diary
release and we provided links to published diaries. We refused media requests declined or
pending under section 18(f) of the Act, as to provide this information would require
substantial research and collation.
In regard to your new request for information regarding media requests for September 2024,
I refer you to the Prime Minister’s ministerial diary release for any accepted media requests
during this time period. The Prime Minister’s ministerial diary for September is expected to be
published on the Beehive website in the next four weeks. Therefore, information regarding
accepted media requests is refused under section 18(d) of the Act as the information will
soon be made publicly available at
: www.beehive.govt.nz/minister/rt-hon-christopher-luxon. In regard to media requests declined or pending for September 2024, it would still require
substantial research and collation to provide this information. This is because media requests
are received via a number of different channels such as requests made to the Prime Minister
communications staff, requests that come through from public channels such as the Prime
Minister’s email, and requests made verbally to the Prime Minister and his staff.
Furthermore, the Prime Minister has a number of communications staff such as Press
Secretaries, in which the nature of their role is to liaise with the media on behalf of the Prime
Minister. The Prime Minister receives media queries across the entire work programme of
the Government and therefore, cannot respond to every media request he receives. Media
requests that fall within a different portfolio are often referred to the responsible Minister for
consideration.
The Prime Minister’s communications staff members are in constant discussion with media
and journalists as part of their job and would therefore have to manually search all their
records to identify a declined or pending media request. The remaining staff in the Office
would also need to check all their records, in case a request came through a different
channel or direct to them. It’s also worth noting that the Prime Minister’s diary is dynamic and
often subject to change, which may include adjustments to accepted media engagements.
Effectively, to accurately capture this information is complex. There is no central record of
media requests declined or pending and in order to provide this information, even for one
month, would still require substantial research and collation. I am therefore refusing the rest
of your request where it relates to media requests declined or pending under section 18(f) of
the Act. Before I reached this decision, I considered the factors covered in sections 18A(1)
and 18B of the Act. However, charging you for the information or consulting further with you
would not allow the request to be answered.
You have the right to ask the Ombudsman to investigate and review my decision under
section 28(3) of the Act.
Yours sincerely
Cameron Burrows
Chief of Staff
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