28 March 2055
S. Fitzgerald
By email: [FYI request #30034 email]
Tēnā koe S. Fitzgerald
Official information request regarding Gama Foundation and Bryce Edwards
I refer to your request for information under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act)
dated 11 February 2025:
1.
“Please provide all communications (in any form), progress reports, and
updates etc regarding the “book” Mr Edwards refers to that is scheduled to
be delivered “at the end of 2024”.
2.
Please provide all communications (in any form), progress reports, and
updates etc regarding the ‘Web of Influence’ public database Mr Edwards
refers to that will be published “in October [2023]”.
3.
Please provide all communications (in any form), progress reports, and
updates etc regarding the “case studies” Mr Edwards refers to that will be
published “later this year [2023] and early next year [2024].”
4.
Please provide all communications (in any form), progress reports, and
updates etc regarding the “Political Integrity Index NZ” Mr Edwards refers
to that will “launch at the [2023] election.”
5.
Please provide all communications (in any form) between the Gama
Foundation and VUW between 15 May 2023 and today, 11 February 2025.
6.
Please provide all communications (in any form) to and from Bryce
Edwards and any person regarding the Gama Foundation OR the projects
the Gama Foundation was funding between 15 May 2023 and today, 11
February 2025.
7.
Please provide all communications (in any form) or reports regarding the
outputs from Bryce Edwards resulting from the funding received by the
Gama Foundation.”
Information related to question 5 of your request is currently being prepared and will be
provided shortly. Please note, some information has been withheld in part or in full for
the following reasons:
•
To protect the privacy of natural persons (s9(2)(a));
•
To protect information where the making available of the information would be
likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who
supplied or who is the subject of the information (s9(2)(b)(ii));
•
To protect information which is subject to an obligation of confidence or which any
person has been or could be compelled to provide under the authority of any
enactment, where the making available of the information would be likely to
prejudice the supply of similar information, or information from the same source,
and it is in the public interest that such information should continue to be supplied
(s9(2)(ba)(i)); and
•
To maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank
expression of opinions by or between or to members of an organisation or officers
and employees of any public service agency or organisation in the course of their
duty (s9(2)(g)(i)).
The amount of information the University holds relating to questions 1-4 and 6-7 of your
request is substantial. Research projects such as the ones funded by the Gama
Foundation Governance and Policy Studies Endowment Fund inevitably generate an
enormous amount of correspondence as staff undertake their research. Initial searches
identified approximately 7000 items that may be in scope of your request. Processing this
information would have a significant and unreasonable impact on the agency’s ability to
carry out its other operations. Therefore these aspects of your request are refused in
accordance with s18(f) of the Act as the information cannot be made available without
substantial collation or research.
I note that the information provided in response to question 5 contains a number of
progress reports related to the research projects you referred to in your request.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of the
decisions made regarding this request. Information about how to make a complaint is
available
at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
If you wish to discuss this decision with us, please feel free to contact me at
[VUW request email].
Ngā mihi nui
Blair Doherty
Senior Advisor, Official Information and Privacy
Legal Services
Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington
