Political editing of Youth Parliament speeches
Lance D. Lavery made this Official Information request to Ministry of Social Development
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From: Lance D. Lavery
Dear Ministry of Social Development,
Under the Official Information Act 1982, I seek the following information held by the Ministry of Youth Development (Te Manatū Whakahiato Taiohi), administered within MSD:
1. All email communications from MYD’s Youth Parliament Project Team sent to Youth MPs between 1 April and 2 July 2025 whose subject lines include “Changes required” (or similar wording) that advised removals or edits regarding:
-Criticism of ministers or government,
-Politically sensitive themes (e.g. pay equity, climate, Treaty Principles Bill, voting rights, freedom of expression),
-Concerns about defamation, political neutrality, or non-partisanship.
2. Internal guidance, memos, or policy documents that informed or justified these communications.
3. Any correspondence relating to the decision not to livestream Youth Parliament debates or to restrict public access to recordings.
Given the strong public interest in protecting rangatahi democratic participation, I ask for minimal redactions, justified by reference to the Act if necessary.
Yours faithfully,
Lance D. Lavery
From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
Tçnâ koe Lance D. Lavery,
Thank you for your email received 3 July 2025, under the Official Information Act 1982. Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate officials at National Office to respond.
The information you have requested may contain the names and contact details of our staff. Please let us know by 7 July 2025 whether you require these names and contact details. We will need to consult our staff before deciding whether we can release this information, and this will take a bit more time. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that you do not require staff names and contact details.
Ngâ manaakitanga,
Official Information Team | Ministerial and Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development
Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to help themselves to be safe, strong and independent
Ko ta mâtou he whakamana tangata kia tû haumaru, kia tû kaha, kia tû motuhake
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From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
Tēnā koe Lance,
I refer to your request made to the Ministry of Social Development (the
Ministry) under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) received 3
July 2025, regarding Youth Parliament 2025.
The Official information Act requires that we advise you of our decision
on your request no later than 20 working days after the day we received
your request. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to meet that time
limit and we are therefore writing to notify you of a short extension of
the time to make our decision, to 8 August 2025.
I hope to get this information to you earlier, however the extension to 8
August 2025 is required due to the consultations necessary to make a
decision on the request are such that a proper response to the request
cannot reasonably be made within the original time limit.
You have the right to seek and investigation and review by the Ombudsman
of this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available
at [1]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Nā mātou noa, nā
Official Information Team | Ministerial and Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development
Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to be safe, strong and independent
Manaaki Tangata, Manaaki Whānau
This email and any attachments may contain information that is
confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you are not the intended
recipient, any use, dissemination, distribution or duplication of this
email and attachments is prohibited. If you have received this email in
error please notify the author immediately and erase all copies of the
email and attachments. The Ministry of Social Development accepts no
responsibility for changes made to this message or attachments after
transmission from the Ministry.
References
Visible links
1. http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
Tçnâ koe Lance D. Lavery,
Please find attached the Ministry’s response to your Official Information
Act request.
Nâ mâtou noa, nâ
Official Information Team | Ministerial and Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development
Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to be safe, strong and independent
Manaaki Tangata, Manaaki Whânau
This email and any attachments may contain information that is
confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you are not the intended
recipient, any use, dissemination, distribution or duplication of this
email and attachments is prohibited. If you have received this email in
error please notify the author immediately and erase all copies of the
email and attachments. The Ministry of Social Development accepts no
responsibility for changes made to this message or attachments after
transmission from the Ministry.
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