Kia ora Team Ministry for Regulation,

The following request for information is made in relation to Annex Three: The Treaty of Waitangi/te Tiriti o Waitangi Impact Analysis for the Regulatory Standards Bill, as included in the document bundle titled Information Release - Policy Approvals for Progressing a Regulatory Standards Bill May 2025, available from the Ministry for Regulations (MfR) website.

I note that Annex 3 contains deleted information on page 2 through page 8, and that the withholding grounds are stated as s 9(2)(h) or [LEGALLY PRIVILEGED: s 9(2)(h).

1. Since publishing the above bundle of documents on the MfR website in May, has MfR made available, any of the information that was deleted/withheld? If yes, I wish to request a copy of the updated/amended version of the document, The Treaty of Waitangi/te Tiriti o Waitangi Impact Analysis for the Regulatory Standards Bill.

2. I request any document or similar, that contains the assessment, decision, and/or grounds in support of MfR’s determination that there was good reason and it was necessary, to withhold the information within Annex 3, marked s 9(2)(h) or [LEGALLY PRIVILEGED: s 9(2)(h).

3. If not already addressed at point 2, please confirm the category of legal privilege that applies to the information deleted/withheld in Annex 3. I have in mind the Ombudman's advice that if information is subject to legal professional privilege, it is always open to the client to decide whether to waive that privilege and release the information at issue. Also, that a document does not become the subject of legal professional privilege because it is signed by a legal adviser or includes a claim to being privileged.

4. If not already addressed at point 2, did MfR identify any reasons that rendered it desirable, to make the withheld information available, but chose not to? If yes, please advise.

5. If not already addressed at point 2, what public interest considerations or assessments were undertaken in order for MfR to state, on the cover page of the Policy bundle, that “no public interest has been identified that would outweigh the reasons for withholding the information.”

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

P A Hira