UNCLASSIFIED
13
August
2025
ref:
OIA2526_06
James
By email: [FYI request #31594 email]
Dear James
Information about Overseas Travel and Accommodation
Thank you for your request of 15 July 2025 under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA), for:
a. Please provide the number and total cost of international business
class flights and the destinations.
b. Please provide the number and total cost of international premium
economy flights and the destinations.
c. Please provide the number and cost of economy class flights.
d. Please provide former Governor Adrian Orr's yearly flight and
accommodation total for the last 3 years up until his resignation.
Response
On 12 August 2025, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua (RBNZ) extended the
timeframe to provide a response to you by 10 working days, to 26 August 2025, under section
15A(1)(b) of the OIA as the consultations that are necessary to make a decision on your request are
such that a proper response cannot reasonably be made within the original time limit. We are now
in a position to respond.
a. Please provide the number and total cost of international business class flights and the
destinations.
The total cost of international Business Class flights was $37,601.61 in the 2023/24 Financial
Year (FY), for three trips to Zurich.
b. Please provide the number and total cost of international premium economy flights and the
destinations.
Ref #22696461 v1.1
UNCLASSIFIED
2
The total cost of Premium Economy flights was $41,032.61 in the 2023/24 FY, for seven trips that
included stopovers in the United States of America, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong
Netherlands, France, and Sweden.
c. Please provide the number and cost of economy class flights.
The total cost of Economy flights was $1,141,155.50 in the 2023/24 FY. The RBNZ is unable to
provide an accurate count of economy class flights due to the size and complexity of the raw
dataset. The raw dataset will need to go through a rigorous quality assurance process before
being suitable for public release.
While the OIA enables people to request official information from agencies like the RBNZ, it only
applies to information that is already held by the RBNZ. As such, we are refusing the part of your
request for the number of economy class flights under section 18(g) of the OIA, as the information
you are requesting would need to be created in order to respond to your request, and there is no
obligation to create information to respond to a request.
d. Please provide former Governor Adrian Orr's yearly flight and accommodation total for the last
3 years up until his resignation.
Financial
Flights
Accommodations Total Spend
Year
23
$ 75,975.35 $ 15,323.39
$ 91,298.74
24
$ 58,972.53
$ 10,179.01
$ 69,151.54
25
$ 33,674.39 $ 6,967.31 $ 40,641.70
The RBNZ is also providing further information to your previous official information request
(OIA2425_139), as the table provided in relation to other costs incurred in the 2023/24 Financial
Year, was incomplete.
For avoidance of doubt, the below table supersedes the one provided to you on 07 July 2025:
Request
FY 2022/2023
FY 2023/2024
Cost of subscription/information services
$ 787,400
$ 681,452
Cost of home equipment subsidies
$ 60,568.47
$ 58,775.55
2
UNCLASSIFIED
3
Request
FY 2022/2023
FY 2023/2024
Wellness reimbursements1
$ 432,531.90
$ 535,095.15
Spend on Ubers and taxis
$ 117,897.29
$ 99,612.06
Spend on flights
$ 1,274.915.63
$ 1,219,789.67
Spend on accommodation
$ 545,085.72
$ 581,491.04
Spend on morning teas2
$ 6,006.21
$ 18,252.81
In making our decision, we have considered the public interest considerations in section 9(1) of the
OIA. No public interest has been identified that would be sufficient to outweigh the reasons for
withholding that information.
We encourage you to raise any concerns you have about this response with the RBNZ directly.
Alternatively, you have the right to seek an investigation and review of this response the Office of
the Ombudsman. Further information about how to make a complaint is publicly available, at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
Government Relations
Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua
1 Each permanent employee and fixed-term employees over 12 months are eligible to claim up to $500 per annum for
healthcare, fitness, and general wellbeing. RBNZ will gross up wel ness claims for PAYE deductions to deliver the net
amount of $500 claimed per FTE. This figure also includes small expenses for RAT tests, flu vaccinations, health checks,
and Employee Assistance Programmes delivered through Vitae.
2 This figure includes a bankwide end-of-year celebration held in August 2023, which did not take place in the previous
year.
3
UNCLASSIFIED
