24 February 2025
James
By email to:
[FYI request #29896 email]
Dear James
OFFICIAL INFORMATION ACT REQUEST 2025/03
On the evening of 27 January 2025, you made a request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the
OIA) for the following information:
Was the Electoral Commission aware of the suspension of ARL board member and Electoral
Commission contractor Gregory Whaiapu pending an investigation into possible financial
irregularities at the organisation prior to the 2023 election?
If yes, please provide all communications relating to this issue.
Given the significant potential conflicts of interest in having a Marae board trustee member
working on election day at the Marae, please provide all communications if any, flagging this
issue and any steps put in place to mitigate concerns and possible issues.
Was the Electoral Commission aware of the suspension of ARL board member and Electoral
Commission contractor Gregory Whaiapu pending an investigation into possible financial
irregularities at the organisation prior to the 2023 election?
If yes, please provide all communications relating to this issue.
We were not aware of Gregory’s suspension from the ARL board. As such, we hold no
communications relating to this matter.
Given the significant potential conflicts of interest in having a Marae board trustee member working
on election day at the Marae, please provide all communications if any, flagging this issue and any
steps put in place to mitigate concerns and possible issues.
Along with this response letter, I have included the supporting documents PDF, which was provided
in our previous response to you regarding this matter.
Gregory declared in writing his political neutrality when signing his employment agreement, which
included a code of conduct, and again when he completed his conflict of interest declaration. When
asked, his referee was also unaware of any conflicts of interest.
The training module for issuing officers, which he attended the week before election day,
emphasised the importance of political neutrality and clearly explained the responsibilities and
expectations of the role.
Electoral Commission
Level 4, 34-42 Manners Street, PO Box 3220, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
Telephone +64 4 495 0030 Fax +64 4 495 0031
www.vote.nz | www.elections.nz
Gregory only worked one day, on October 14, 2023, election day. During election day, he reported to
and was supervised by the Voting Place Manager to make sure that processes were strictly
followed. Gregory was not involved in any post-election day activities, activities that include the
official count, special vote processing or dual vote investigation.
In the interests of transparency, we release responses to Official Information Act requests every 3
months. We will publish this response with your personal details redacted.
You have the right under section 28(3) of the Act to make a complaint to the Ombudsman if you are
not satisfied with the response to your request. Information about how to do this is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or by phoning 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
Martin Rodgers
Director Voting Services
Electoral Commission
Level 4, 34-42 Manners Street, PO Box 3220, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
Telephone +64 4 495 0030 Fax +64 4 495 0031
www.vote.nz | www.elections.nz
