Basis for $343,500 Senior Doctor Remuneration Figure
Nancy Peters made this Official Information request to Health New Zealand
This request has an unknown status. We're waiting for Nancy Peters to read recent responses and update the status.
      From: Nancy Peters
      
    
    Dear Health New Zealand,
Under the Official Information Act 1982, I am requesting the following information in relation to the public statement made by Health Minister Simeon Brown on 17 April 2025, in which he stated that senior doctors receive an average total remuneration of $343,500:
1. All correspondence, briefings, internal emails, or reports provided by Health New Zealand to the Minister or his office that relate to or informed the $343,500 figure.
2. Any documents outlining how this figure was calculated, including:
The data sources used (e.g. payroll systems, remuneration modelling, FTE allocations)
The methodology used, including any formulas or assumptions
Whether this figure includes base salary only or also includes allowances, CME, KiwiSaver, or discretionary payments.
3. Any internal communication within Te Whatu Ora discussing or reviewing the $343,500 figure, prior to or following the Minister's public statement.
Yours faithfully,
Nancy Peters
        From: hnzOIA
      
    
    Tēnā koe, 
 
Thank you for contacting Health NZ, Te Whatu Ora. This is an automatic
 reply to confirm that we have received your email.  Depending on the
 nature of your request you may not receive a response for up to 20 working
 days.  We will try to respond to your query as quickly as possible.
 
 
Ngā mihi
 
Health NZ, Te Whatu Ora.
 
  
 Statement of confidentiality: This email message and any accompanying
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        From: hnzOIA
      
    
    Kia ora Nancy,
 
Thank you for your email received on 18 April 2025 for the following
 information made under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA): 
 
“Under the Official Information Act 1982, I am requesting the following
 information in relation to the public statement made by Health Minister
 Simeon Brown on 17 April 2025, in which he stated that senior doctors
 receive an average total remuneration of $343,500:
1. All correspondence, briefings, internal emails, or reports provided by
 Health New Zealand to the Minister or his office that relate to or
 informed the $343,500 figure.
2. Any documents outlining how this figure was calculated, including:
 The data sources used (e.g. payroll systems, remuneration modelling, FTE
 allocations)
 The methodology used, including any formulas or assumptions
 Whether this figure includes base salary only or also includes allowances,
 CME, KiwiSaver, or discretionary payments.
3. Any internal communication within Te Whatu Ora discussing or reviewing
 the $343,500 figure, prior to or following the Minister's public
 statement.”
 
We are currently working on your request, however, as it is currently
 worded, part 1 of your request (highlighted in yellow) is very broad and
 substantial manual collation would be required to locate and prepare all
 documents within scope of your request, particularly the collation of all
 correspondence and internal emails. This is because there are multiple and
 various IT systems and hence different emailing systems to access and
 collate such information.
 
We appreciate you are under no obligation to amend your request, however,
 requests that require substantial collation may be refused under section
 18(f) of the OIA. 
 
We want to work with you to avoid this and ensure we are able to provide a
 response that best meets your needs. As such, we ask if you could please
 consider refining the scope of part 1 of your request, in order to allow
 us to collate the information in a manner that is reasonably feasible. For
 example:
 
* All official briefings and reports provided by Health New Zealand to
 Hon Simeon Brown that relate to or informed the $353,500 figure. 
 
I would appreciate if you could please let us know by the end of Friday 9
 May 2025 whether you are prepared to amend or clarify your request and, if
 so, how. 
 
We look forward to hearing from you.
 
Ngâ mihi
 
Government Services
Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora
 
Statement of confidentiality: This email message and any accompanying
 attachments may contain information that is IN-CONFIDENCE and subject to
 legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use,
 disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have
 received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and
 delete this message
        From: hnzOIA
      
    
    Kia ora Nancy,
  
 Thank you for your request for information on 18 April 2025. Please find
 attached our response to your request.
  
 If you have any questions, please get in touch at
 [1][email address]
  
 If you are not happy with this response, you have the right to make a
 complaint to the Ombudsman. Information about how to do this is available
 at [2]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or by phoning 0800 802 602.
  
 Ngā mihi, 
  
 Te Whatu Ora Ministerial Team
  
 [3]cid:image002.png@01DA6327.D9C19DB0
 Statement of confidentiality: This email message and any accompanying
 attachments may contain information that is IN-CONFIDENCE and subject to
 legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use,
 disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have
 received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and
 delete this message
References
Visible links
 1. mailto:[Health New Zealand request email]
 2. file:///tmp/
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
 - Download a zip file of all correspondence (note: this contains the same information already available above).
 

