20 February 2025
Official information request 8140015294
(Please quote this in any correspondence)
Pen Parker
By email:
[FYI request #29879 email]
Tēnā koe Pen
Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987
Re: Vandalism acts of pro-Palestinian activists
Thank you for your email dated 25 January 2025, in which you requested information about
acts of vandalism attributed to pro-Palestinian protesters. The specific details of your request
and our response are below.
I am writing to request detailed information regarding acts of vandalism attributed to
pro-Palestinian protesters within Auckland since October 7, 2023. Specifical y, I am
seeking:
1. Number of Recorded Incidents: The total count of vandalism events linked to
pro-Palestinian protests during this period.
2. Description of Each Incident: For each recorded event, please provide:
- Date and location
- Nature of the vandalism (e.g., graffiti, stickers, flyers, or other defacement)
- Any available details on the content or messages conveyed
3. Associated Remediation Costs: An itemized breakdown of the costs incurred by
the council to address and remediate each incident, including:
- Cleaning or removal expenses
- Repairs to damaged property
- Any additional administrative or enforcement costs
I understand that such acts may primarily involve the application of stickers, flyers,
graffiti, or similar forms of defacement. I am interested in understanding the scope and
impact of these activities on public spaces and resources.
The Parks and Community Facilities department are unable to provide an accurate report on
number, details and costs of incidents of vandalism or wilful damage resulting from protests,
rallies, or marches. When incidents are reported through a Request for Service (RFS), there
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
is no specific category or prompt to indicate and record the reason for the request and whether
the issue is caused by vandalism, wilful damage or protest for example.
Reports on any RFS would need also to include a wide range of service categories due to the
variety of issues and types of damage potential y linked to protests. For more accurate
reporting, specific information such as the dates and locations of protests would need to be
provided. However, it's important to note that we stil wouldn't be able to confirm if the RFS
was specifically as a result of wilful damage.
Between January 2024 and January 2025, a total of 114,044 graffiti tags were removed by
our dedicated graffiti vandalism contractors, and whilst technically all graffiti vandalism is wilful
damage, as per above, we wouldn’t be able to accurately confirm the cause due to a protest.
Reporting of the RFS would also not include any damage or issues linked to protests which
are identified and repaired by our contractors as part of scheduled maintenance which is
included within the outcome-based full facility maintenance contract as no Request for
Services are raised.
We are therefore unable to provide you with the specific information requested under section
17 (e) of the Local Government Of icial Information and Meetings Act 1987;
that the document
alleged to contain the information requested does not exist or, despite reasonable efforts to
locate it, cannot be found.
Decisions relating to the information that is being released to you were made by
Taryn
Crewe, General Manager - Parks and Community Facilities.
You have the right to complain to the Ombudsman if you believe we have not responded
appropriately to your request. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
If you have any further queries, please contact me on 09 301 0101 quoting official information
request number 8140015294.
Ngā mihi
Amanda Pil ay
Privacy and Official Information Business Partner
Customer Experience and Digital Services
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
