Dear Reserve Bank of New Zealand,

Under the OIA, I request the “Statement of Concerns” email of 27 February discussed in this news report: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/econ...

Please respond urgently to my request, for these reasons:

1) If the document does not exist, there is extreme public interest in the RBNZ making that clear immediately, given point 2, and it is now reasonably practicable for that to be stated.

2) Equally, if the document does exist, there is extreme public interest in the RBNZ releasing it immediately since it would suggest there has been a cover up involving the bank, Treasury and Government which ought to become public immediately, especially given the bank’s need for the integrity of its communications to be unimpeachable. This is especially true given the current process to appoint a new governor. It is also now reasonably practicable for the document to be released.

Under these circumstance, the protection of the privacy of natural persons is irrelevant and should not delay the release.

Thank you for your urgent attention to this matter.

Yours faithfully,

Matthew Hooton