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Decision to establish Twitter/X presence

Tyler Smith made this Official Information request to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

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From: Tyler Smith

Dear Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade,

I request information related to the establishment of a Twitter/X profile for use by MFAT on behalf of the Foreign Minister. The handle is @NewZealandMFA.

Usually Government MPs utilise their existing twitter profiles to publish information related to their Ministerial role, however I noticed this was not followed when Rt Hon Winston Peters became foreign minister - I am interested to understand why this happened.

Please advise.

1. Where did the idea come from to establish a twitter profile seperate to the already existing twitter profile for Rt Hon Winston Peters?

2. Was this idea suggested by MFAT, or Mr Peters/people from his office.

3. Did MFAT identify any risks associated with Mr Peters using his existing twitter profile to publish information related to his Foreign Affairs role?

4. Does Mr Peters have the log in information to publish directly to the @NewZealandMFA profile? Or are any tweets handled by MFAT? (i note tweets from Mr Peters are signed off “WP”

5. What is the sign off process for tweets published or tweets liked by the @NewZealandMFA twitter profile?

6. Please provide any briefings, emails, txts or other communications within MFAT and Foreign Affairs Ministers office related to the establishment of the twitter profile.

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From: ENQUIRIES
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

[UNCLASSIFIED]

Kia ora and thank you for your email.

For enquiries regarding:
• Advice for New Zealanders living and travelling overseas – visit Home |
[1]https://www.safetravel.govt.nz/
• Consular issues - or if you are a New Zealand citizen overseas needing
assistance, email: [email address].
• New Zealand Scholarships - email [email address]
• MFAT Vacancies - visit our website at:
[2]https://vacancies.mfat.govt.nz/.
• MFAT Graduate Programme - email: [email address].
• New Zealand visas, asylum and other immigrations matters - contact
Immigration New Zealand, by emailing
[email address] or visit the Immigration New
Zealand website at: [3]https://www.immigration.govt.nz/ revised
• Visas for other countries - contact the relevant foreign representative
to New Zealand. A full list is available at
[4]https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/embassies/.
• New Zealand passports - visit the Internal Affairs website at:
[5]www.passports.govt.nz.
• New Zealand citizenship - visit the Internal Affairs website at:
[6]www.dia.govt.nz/New-Zealand-citizenship.
• Authentication of documents and Apostilles - visit the Internal Affairs
website at: [7]www.dia.govt.nz/document-authentication.
• Bringing goods into New Zealand - visit the New Zealand Customs website
at: [8]www.customs.govt.nz.
• NZ suppliers or companies - visit the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise
website at: [9]www.nzte.govt.nz.
• To attest fingerprints - visit
[10]https://www.police.govt.nz/faq/having-fi...
For all other enquiries, you will receive a response in due course.

 

Ngâ mihi

 

 

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From: ENQUIRIES
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

[UNCLASSIFIED]

UNCLASSIFIED

Kia ora Tyler Smith

Thank you for your OIA request received on 11 March 2025 for:

1. Where did the idea come from to establish a twitter profile seperate to the already existing twitter profile for Rt Hon Winston Peters?

2. Was this idea suggested by MFAT, or Mr Peters/people from his office.

3. Did MFAT identify any risks associated with Mr Peters using his existing twitter profile to publish information related to his Foreign Affairs role?

4. Does Mr Peters have the log in information to publish directly to the @NewZealandMFA profile? Or are any tweets handled by MFAT? (i note tweets from Mr Peters are signed off “WP”

5. What is the sign off process for tweets published or tweets liked by the @NewZealandMFA twitter profile?

6. Please provide any briefings, emails, txts or other communications within MFAT and Foreign Affairs Ministers office related to the establishment of the twitter profile.

This email confirms receipt of your request and advises that we will respond to it as soon as reasonably practicable, and in terms of the timeframes and requirements of the OIA.

Please note that our response letter to you (with your personal details redacted), and any enclosed documents, may be published on the Ministry’s website.

Ngā mihi

Executive Services Division
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade | Manatū Aorere

UNCLASSIFIED

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From: ESD
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

[UNCLASSIFIED]

UNCLASSIFIED

Tēnā koe Tyler Smith,

We refer to your official information request of 11 March 2025.

We have transferred your request to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The information to which your request relates is not held by us but is believed to be held by the Minister (section 14(b)(i) of the OIA refers). In these circumstances, we are required by section 14 of the Official Information Act to transfer your request.

You will hear further from the Minister concerning your request.

Ngā mihi

Executive Services Division
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade | Manatū Aorere

195 Lambton Quay, Private Bag 18901, Wellington 5045, New Zealand
http://www.mfat.govt.nz/ | http://www.safetravel.govt.nz/

UNCLASSIFIED

UNCLASSIFIED

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From: Winston Peters (MIN)


Attachment image002.jpg
12K Download


Dear Tyler Smith,

 

I acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act (OIA) request dated
11 March 2025, in which you requested the following:

 

              “1. Where did the idea come from to establish a twitter
profile seperate to the already existing twitter profile for Rt Hon
Winston Peters?

 

                2. Was the idea suggested by MFAT, or Mr Peters/people
from his office?

 

                3. Did MFAT identify any risks associated with Mr Peters
using his existing twitter profile to publish information related to his
Foreign Affairs role?

 

                4. Does Mr Peters have the log in information to publish
directly to the @NewZealandMFA profile? Or any tweets handled by MFAT? (I
note tweets from Mr Peters are signed off “WP”.)

 

               5. What is the sign off process for tweets published or
tweets liked by the @NewZealandMFA twitter profile

 

                6. Please provide any briefings, emails, txts or other
communications within MFAT and Foreign Affairs Ministers office related to
the establishment of the twitter profile?”

 

We received your request on 25 March 2025 after it was transferred to our
Office from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. We will endeavour
to respond to your request as soon as possible and in any event no later
than 24 April 2025, being 20 working days after the day your request was
received. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will
notify you of an extension of that timeframe.

 

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact our office. If any
additional factors come to light which are relevant to your request,
please do not hesitate to contact us so that these can be taken into
account.

 

Kind Regards,

Private Secretary

 

Office of Rt Hon Winston Peters
Deputy Prime Minister

Minister of Foreign Affairs |

Minister for Racing |

Minister for Rail

Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand

 

 

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