This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Official Information request 'Legal Costs Requests'.



 
 
 
National Headquarters 
Fire and Emergency New Zealand 
National Headquarters 
Spark Central, Level 7 
42-52 Willis Street 
Wellington Central 
Wellington 6011 
  
Phone +64 4 496 3600 
 
 
30 April 2025    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
             Ref: 17599 
 
 
Victor Corbett 
[FYI request #30586 email]  
 
 
Tēnā koe Victor 
 
Thank you for your request of 1 April 2025, to Fire and Emergency New Zealand requesting the 
following information under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA): 
 
1.  The total legal costs incurred by Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) in relation to the 
investigation into Russell Kinzett. 
 

2.  The total legal costs incurred by FENZ in relation to any litigation before the Employment 
Relations Authority (ERA) involving Russell Kinzett. 
 
3.  A breakdown of the nature of these costs (e.g. internal legal time, external counsel fees, 

disbursements, etc.), if available. 
 
This letter is to advise that Fire and Emergency needs to extend the timeframe of our response to 
your request by 10 working days, pursuant to section 15A(1)(a) of the OIA, as the request is for a 
large quantity of official information or necessitates a search through a large quantity of 
information and meeting the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with our operations.  
 
For this reason, you can expect to receive our response no later than 16 May 2025. We will 
endeavour to respond sooner than this date if possible. If you no longer require this information, 
please let us know. 
 
You have the right to request an investigation and review of Fire and Emergency’s decision to 
extend the timeframe by the Ombudsman. Information about how to make a complaint is 
available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602. 
 
Nāku noa, nā 
 
 
 
 
Aidan Saunders 
Manager, Information Requests