Independent advice on heated tobacco products
B. White made this Official Information request to Casey Costello
The request was partially successful.
From: B. White
Dear Casey Costello,
You are quoted as saying the following.
"I, the Associate Minister of Health, have received independent advice on the efficacy of HTPs as a smoking cessation tool,"
I request a copy of the independent advice received. For clarity this request includes identifying information of who the source of independent advice was, as well as meeting notes of advice provided verbally.
Regards,
B. White
From: Casey Costello (MIN)
Casey Costello
Thank you for contacting the Office of Hon Casey Costello, Minister of
Customs, Minister for Seniors, Associate Minister of Health, Associate
Minister of Immigration, and Associate Minister of Police.
The Minister considers all correspondence important and appreciates you
taking the time to write. Please note that as Minister Costello receives a
large amount of correspondence it is not always possible to personally
reply to all emails.
The following guidelines apply:
* Portfolio related correspondence will be considered and responded to
where appropriate.
* If your message is for Minister Costello’s advice, or if you have
copied your email to another Minister and/or Member of Parliament with
more appropriate portfolio responsibilities, then this will be noted.
* Invitations and requests to meet with the Minister will be processed
as soon as possible and a staff member will be in contact with you in
due course. Please note this email is an acknowledgment that your
invitation/request has been received.
* If you have made a request for official information then this will be
managed in accordance with the provisions of the Official Information
Act 1982, which may include transfer to a more relevant Minister or
agency.
* If your email falls outside of the Minister’s portfolio
responsibilities, expresses a personal view, or is copied to multiple
Members of Parliament, then your opinion will be noted and your
correspondence may be transferred to another office, or there may be
no further response to you.
* Media queries will be referred to the Minister’s press secretary.
Again, thank you for writing.
Kind regards,
Office of Hon Casey Costello
Minister of Customs | Minister for Seniors | Associate Minister of Health
| Associate Minister of Immigration | Associate Minister of Police
Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
DDI: 04 817 6827
Please note information about meetings related to the Ministers’
portfolios will be proactively released (this does not
include personal, or constituency matters). For each meeting in scope, the
summary would list: date, time (start and finish), brief description,
location, who the meeting was with, and the portfolio. If you attend a
meeting with the Minister on behalf of an organisation, the name of the
organisation will be released. If you are a senior staff member at an
organisation, or meet with the Minister in your personal capacity, your
name may also be released. The location of the meeting will be released,
unless it is a private residence. The proactive release will be consistent
with the provisions in the Official Information Act, including privacy
considerations. Under the Privacy Act 1993 you have the right to ask for a
copy of any personal information we hold about you, and to ask for it to
be corrected if you think it is wrong. If you’d like to ask for a copy of
your information, or to have it corrected, or are concerned about the
release of your information in the meeting disclosure, please contact the
sender. You can read more about the proactive release policy
at https://www.dia.govt.nz/Proactive-Releas...
Disclaimer:
The information in this email (including attachments) is confidential
and may be legally privileged. If an addressing or transmission error has
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From: Casey Costello (MIN)
Casey Costello
Dear B.White,
I acknowledge receipt of your email below received today Monday 30
September 2024, which you submitted an Official Information Act request as
follows:
Your OIA Request:
You are quoted as saying the following.
"I, the Associate Minister of Health, have received independent advice on
the efficacy of HTPs as a smoking cessation tool,"
o I request a copy of the independent advice received. For clarity this
request includes identifying information of who the source of
independent advice was, as well as meeting notes of advice provided
verbally.
Minister Hon Casey Costello is considering your official request in
accordance with the Act, and you can expect a response by Tuesday 29
October 2024.
Regards
Office of Hon Casey Costello
Office of Hon Casey Costello
Minister of Customs | Minister for Seniors
Associate Minister of Immigration | Associate Minister of Health |
Associate Minister of Police
2.054 PH, Parliament Buildings,Wellington 6160, New Zealand
E: [1][Casey Costello request email]
Disclaimer: The information in this email (including attachments) is
confidential and may be legally privileged. If an addressing or
transmission error has misdirected this email, please notify the author by
replying to this email and destroy the message. If you are not the
intended recipient, any use, disclosure, copying or distribution is
prohibited and may be unlawful.
show quoted sections
From: Casey Costello (MIN)
Casey Costello
Good afternoon B White,
Please find attached a letter from Hon Casey Costello in response to your
request.
Regards,
Evana Archer | Roving Private Secretary (Executive Support)
Parliament Buildings | Wellington 6011 | [1]www.beehive.govt.nz
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and
intended for the addressee only. If you are not the intended recipient,
you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or
make use of its contents. If received in error you are asked to destroy
this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is
appreciated.
Please note information about meetings related to the Ministers’
portfolios will be proactively released (this does not include personal or
constituency matters). For each meeting in scope, the summary would list:
date, time (start and finish), brief description, location, who the
meeting was with, and the portfolio. If you attend a meeting with the
Minister on behalf of an organisation, the name of the organisation will
be released. If you are a senior staff member at an organisation, or meet
with the Minister in your personal capacity, your name may also be
released. The location of the meeting will be released, unless it is a
private residence. The proactive release will be consistent with the
provisions in the Official Information Act, including privacy
considerations. Under the Privacy Act 1993 you have the right to ask for a
copy of any personal information we hold about you, and to ask for it to
be corrected if you think it is wrong. If you’d like to ask for a copy of
your information, or to have it corrected, or are concerned about the
release of your information in the meeting disclosure, please contact the
sender. You can read more about the proactive release policy at
[2]https://www.dia.govt.nz/Proactive-Releas...
show quoted sections
From: B. White
Dear Casey Costello (MIN),
Thank you for your response dated 29 October and the attached documents.
While these documents do seem to have some overlap with the topic of heated tobacco products - I cannot see any evidence of advice provided to the minister so find that the response is incomplete.
As such I would like to request that the minister reconsider her response.
Perhaps to better answer the request made, the minister would like to either:
- clarify how where the attached documents were received, and provide any such information such as emails, meeting notes, or covering memos that came with the receipt of these documents (within scope of original request, and subject to the timeframes within)
- clarify that no independent advice was received, and the documents received are the result of the Minister's own research
If no independent advice was received, and the documents received are the result of the Minister's own research - I request (as a new OIA request) details of:
- the manner of how these documents were found (search engine, academic journal service, personal collection, etc.)
- the time period over which the provided documents were collated
- if search terms were used - a list of search terms used
- if an external research or literature review service was used, the details of the service and what scope they were given for this review.
Yours sincerely,
B. White
From: Casey Costello (MIN)
Casey Costello
Good morning,
I acknowledge receipt of your below email received yesterday, Wednesday 30
October in which you submitted a new Official Information Act request as
follows:
Your OIA Request:
o If no independent advice was received, and the documents received are
the result of the Minister's own research - I request (as a new OIA
request) details of:
- the manner of how these documents were found (search engine, academic
journal service, personal collection, etc.)
- the time period over which the provided documents were collated
- if search terms were used - a list of search terms used
- if an external research or literature review service was used, the
details of the service and what scope they were given for this review.
Minister Hon Casey Costello is considering your official request in
accordance with the Act, and you can expect a response by 26 November
2024.
Regards,
Office of Hon Casey Costello
Roving Private Secretary (Executive Support)
Parliament Buildings | Wellington 6011 | [1]www.beehive.govt.nz
The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and
intended for the addressee only. If you are not the intended recipient,
you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy or
make use of its contents. If received in error you are asked to destroy
this email and contact the sender immediately. Your assistance is
appreciated.
Please note information about meetings related to the Ministers’
portfolios will be proactively released (this does not include personal or
constituency matters). For each meeting in scope, the summary would list:
date, time (start and finish), brief description, location, who the
meeting was with, and the portfolio. If you attend a meeting with the
Minister on behalf of an organisation, the name of the organisation will
be released. If you are a senior staff member at an organisation, or meet
with the Minister in your personal capacity, your name may also be
released. The location of the meeting will be released, unless it is a
private residence. The proactive release will be consistent with the
provisions in the Official Information Act, including privacy
considerations. Under the Privacy Act 1993 you have the right to ask for a
copy of any personal information we hold about you, and to ask for it to
be corrected if you think it is wrong. If you’d like to ask for a copy of
your information, or to have it corrected, or are concerned about the
release of your information in the meeting disclosure, please contact the
sender. You can read more about the proactive release policy at
[2]https://www.dia.govt.nz/Proactive-Releas...
show quoted sections
From: B. White
Dear Casey Costello (MIN),
Thanks for your acknowledgement.
Note that this additional request was contingent on there being no independent advice received in this matter.
Does this mean that the Minister has re-considered her response and is acknowledging that there was no independent advice received on this matter?
Yours sincerely,
B. White
From: Travis Ancelet
Hi B White,
I'm responding to you directly to hopefully provide some clarity. The Minister has not re-considered her response. As stated in her response letter, there is a wide body of literature on taking a harm reduction approach to smoking cessation. It is entirely appropriate to consider independent research as advice that helps to inform decision-making when considered alongside advice that is received from officials. It is also entirely appropriate for the Minister and staff in her office to undertake their own analyses.
If your concern is related to physically or electronically receiving material from a source outside the Minister's office, I can confirm that this was not the case.
Kind regards,
Travis
Travis Ancelet (PhD, MBA) | Ministerial Advisor |Office of Hon Casey Costello
Minister of Customs | Minister for Seniors
Associate Minister of Immigration | Associate Minister of Health | Associate Minister of Police
2.054 PH, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
M: +64 21 865 715 | DDI: 04 817 9736
E: [email address]
show quoted sections
From: B. White
Hi again,
While I agree that it is appropriate for a Minister to do their own research into a body of evidence, the quote from the minister reads "I, the Associate Minister of Health, have received independent advice on the efficacy of HTPs as a smoking cessation tool".
There are a few key words in that quote that I would like to ensure are paid attention to:
- received (provided by someone other than them minister)
- independent (not coming from someone with a interest in any outcome)
- advice (communication, generally providing guidance or recommendation)
If in fact the Minister did not receive independent advice - please state this directly and proceed with my additional request regarding the Minister's own analysis.
If in fact the Minister did receive independent advice - please provide details per my original request, including who it was received from, and contents of the advice (not the reference materials underlying that advice).
Yours sincerely,
B. White
From: B. White
Hello again, again,
Following up on my previous message (copied below for your convenience).
The original information request has not been answered sensibly, and is now overdue in breach of the Act.
If I do not receive a fulsome response before the end of the week I will be referring the initial request to the ombudsman.
If no independent advice was received - my additional request still stands and should be completed by 27 November 2024.
Yours sincerely,
B. White
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi again,
While I agree that it is appropriate for a Minister to do their own research into a body of evidence, the quote from the minister reads "I, the Associate Minister of Health, have received independent advice on the efficacy of HTPs as a smoking cessation tool".
There are a few key words in that quote that I would like to ensure are paid attention to:
- received (provided by someone other than them minister)
- independent (not coming from someone with a interest in any outcome)
- advice (communication, generally providing guidance or recommendation)
If in fact the Minister did not receive independent advice - please state this directly and proceed with my additional request regarding the Minister's own analysis.
If in fact the Minister did receive independent advice - please provide details per my original request, including who it was received from, and contents of the advice (not the reference materials underlying that advice).
Yours sincerely,
B. White
From: Casey Costello (MIN)
Casey Costello
Dear B White,
Please find attached a response to your request for official information.
Regards,
Office of Hon Casey Costello
Office of Hon Casey Costello
Minister of Customs | Minister for Seniors
Associate Minister of Immigration | Associate Minister of Health |
Associate Minister of Police
2.054 PH, Parliament Buildings,Wellington 6160, New Zealand
E: [1][Casey Costello request email]
Disclaimer: The information in this email (including attachments) is
confidential and may be legally privileged. If an addressing or
transmission error has misdirected this email, please notify the author by
replying to this email and destroy the message. If you are not the
intended recipient, any use, disclosure, copying or distribution is
prohibited and may be unlawful.
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B. White left an annotation ()
I see that there is some interest in this request over on the r/newzealand subreddit.
For the information of anyone interested - a complaint was made on 11 November to the ombudsman regarding the response to the original request.
The complaint was about the fact that the documents recieved under the OIA don't line up with the quote from the minister. Either she didn't receive independent advice (which she is not backing down on) or she didn't provide the appropriate information under the OIA request.
Link to this