Advice and communication about Turoa
Eric Ferguson made this Official Information request to Shane Jones
This request has an unknown status. We're waiting for Eric Ferguson to read recent responses and update the status.
From: Eric Ferguson
Tēnā koe Minister Jones,
Under the Official Information Act 1982, I request the following information:
1. All information held by you or your office from 1 January 2024 to the present relating to Turoa Ski Field, excluding correspondence from members of the public.
Specifically, I request:
• Advice, briefings, and reports provided to you or your office by government departments, agencies, or officials;
• Internal communications within your office or between your office and other Ministers, Members of Parliament, or government officials;
• Emails, memos, meeting notes, or any correspondence with other Ministers, MPs, or officials regarding Turoa or Pure Turoa Ltd;
• Any diary entries or meeting records relating to Turoa, Mt Ruapehu ski fields, or Pure Turoa Ltd.
I am happy to receive this information in electronic format. If any information is withheld, please state the reasons under the relevant sections of the Act.
Ngā mihi nui,
Eric Ferguson
From: Hon Shane Jones
Tēnā koe Eric,
On behalf of the Hon Shane Jones, I wish to officially acknowledge your Official Information request received by our office on 17 July requesting the following information:
Under the Official Information Act 1982, I request the following information:
1. All information held by you or your office from 1 January 2024 to the present relating to Turoa Ski Field, excluding correspondence from members of the public.
Specifically, I request:
• Advice, briefings, and reports provided to you or your office by government departments, agencies, or officials;
• Internal communications within your office or between your office and other Ministers, Members of Parliament, or government officials;
• Emails, memos, meeting notes, or any correspondence with other Ministers, MPs, or officials regarding Turoa or Pure Turoa Ltd;
• Any diary entries or meeting records relating to Turoa, Mt Ruapehu ski fields, or Pure Turoa Ltd.
We will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible, and, in any event no later than 14 August 2025. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of an extension of that timeframe.
Kind regards,
Office of Hon Shane Jones
Minister for Regional Development | Minister for Resources | Minister for Oceans and Fisheries | Associate Minister of Finance | Associate Minister for Energy
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From: Hon Shane Jones
Tēnā koe Eric
Thank you for your email of 17 July 2025 requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act), the following information:
All information held by you or your office from 1 January 2024 to the present relating to Turoa Ski Field, excluding correspondence from members of the public.
Specifically, I request:
• Advice, briefings, and reports provided to you or your office by government departments, agencies, or officials;
• Internal communications within your office or between your office and other Ministers, Members of Parliament, or government officials;
• Emails, memos, meeting notes, or any correspondence with other Ministers, MPs, or officials regarding Turoa or Pure Turoa Ltd;
• Any diary entries or meeting records relating to Turoa, Mt Ruapehu ski fields, or Pure Turoa Ltd.
It appears likely that your original request for internal communications, emails or correspondence regarding Tūroa Ski Field, Tūroa or Pure Tūroa Ltd will need to be amended to enable us to respond.
Whilst the decision to provide funding support to Pure Tūroa Limited was made in 2024, the Government continued negotiations with bidders and iwi for the operations of the Whakapapa ski field. Additionally, within this time, decisions were also made to provide additional funding support to Ruapehu Alpine Lifts Limited (in liquidation and receivership) (RAL) for their operations until further decisions on the next steps were made.
Therefore, any mention of Tūroa Ski Field, Tūroa or Pure Tūroa Ltd would be intertwined within the three different decision-making processes (i.e sale of Tūroa ski field, bidding/sale Whakapapa ski field, and providing additional support for RAL’s operations). This means that there is difficulty involved in meeting your request for all internal communications, emails or correspondence as the range of topics (Turoa Ski Field, Turoa or Pure Turoa Ltd) and timeframe (1 January 2024 – 17 July 2025) would require substantial collation or research to determine which items are within scope.
Therefore, I invite you to consider narrowing your request by reducing the timeframe or amending your request to all communications, emails or correspondence relating to official advice/briefings regarding Tūroa Ski Field, Tūroa or Pure Tūroa Ltd.
Please let us know by 8 August 2025 whether you are prepared to amend your request and, if so, how.
Ngā mihi
Office of Hon Shane Jones
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From: Eric Ferguson
Dear Hon Shane Jones,
Thank you for your message of 5 August 2025 inviting me to consider narrowing my Official Information Act request of 17 July 2025.
I do not agree that my original request is unreasonably broad, particularly given that the scope is clearly defined by:
• Subject matter: Tūroa Ski Field, Tūroa, and/or Pure Tūroa Ltd
• Timeframe: 1 January 2024 to 17 July 2025
• Exclusions: correspondence from members of the public
I note that section 18(f) of the Act allows refusal only where the information cannot be made available without substantial collation or research, but section 18B also requires that, before refusing, you must consider whether consulting with me to refine the request could make it manageable.
While I am open to refining where genuinely necessary, I am concerned that excluding “internal communications, emails or correspondence” would risk omitting relevant and substantive records of ministerial decision-making, particularly where these may not be captured in formal briefings or advice.
To assist you in meeting the request while maintaining completeness, I am prepared to amend it as follows:
1. Retain the original timeframe (1 January 2024 – 17 July 2025) and subject matter (Tūroa Ski Field, Tūroa, and/or Pure Tūroa Ltd).
2. For internal communications, emails, memos, meeting notes, and correspondence, please limit the search to:
• Communications involving you, your office staff, or other Ministers/MPs/officers where the subject line, meeting title, or main topic refers directly or indirectly to Tūroa, Tūroa, Pure Tūroa Ltd, or their funding, sale, or operational arrangements.
3. For advice, briefings, and reports provided to you or your office by government departments, agencies, or officials, there is no need to refine this, because you will have efficient and effective filing systems for this.
4. For any diary entries or meeting records relating to Turoa, Mt Ruapehu ski fields, or Pure Turoa Ltd, there is no need to refine this as it is a simple check if the diary and meeting records.
If you still consider this refined scope would require substantial collation or research, please provide me with a detailed description and explanation of the search results of the information so that I can assess further narrowing.
Yours sincerely,
Eric Ferguson
From: Hon Shane Jones
Dear Eric,
On behalf of Minister Jones, please find attached a letter addressed to you.
Kind regards,
Office of Hon Minister Jones
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From: Hon Shane Jones
OIA364 Eric Ferguson Documents Redacted.pdf
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OIA364 Eric Ferguson Response Letter.pdf
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Dear Eric,
On behalf of Minister Jones, please find attached a response to your Official Information Act request of #.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Kind regards,
Office of Hon Shane Jones
Minister for Regional Development | Minister for Resources | Minister for Oceans and Fisheries | Associate Minister of Finance | Associate Minister for Energy
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