Reference: 20250598
29 September 2025
Joshua Riley
[FYI request #31793 email]
Dear Joshua
Thank you for your Official Information Act (OIA) request, which was partially
transferred from Te Tari Whakatau to the Treasury on 19 August 2025. You requested
the following:
3. Source of Funds: For the total capital identified in question 1, please provide a
breakdown of its source from the Crown's perspective. For example: a. What
amount or percentage was funded from general taxation or a specific Vote
appropriation? b. What amount or percentage was funded through government
borrowing (i.e., added to the national debt)?
On 12 September 2025, the Treasury extended the time limit for your request to 7
October 2025, under section 15A of the OIA. This was to allow time for the Treasury to
consult with Te Tari Whakatau, as our response required a list of funds that was to be
provided as part of their response. Since then, Te Tari Whakatau has confirmed to you
that Ngāpuhi Investment Fund Limited (Tupu Tonu) is the only such fund within the
scope of “question 1”.
I have categorised your request into three parts, which I refer to in my response:
a)
For the total capital identified in question 1, what amount or percentage was met
through a specific Vote appropriation?
b)
For the total capital identified in question 1, what amount or percentage was
funded from general taxation?
c)
For the total capital identified in question 1, what amount or percentage was
funded through government borrowing?
Information publicly available
Appropriations provide the authority from Parliament to departments to incur expenses.
Under the Public Finance Act 1989, all capital expenditure must be incurred with
appropriation or otherwise incurred under a legislative authority. A Vote is a grouping of
appropriations.
In relation to part (a), Tupu Tonu’s $150 million of capital was met with the non-
departmental capital expenditure appropriation
Capital Investment in the Ngāpuhi
Sovereign Fund Entity in Vote Te Arawhiti.
1 The Terrace
PO Box 3724
Wellington 6140
New Zealand
tel. +64-4-472-2733
https://treasury.govt.nz
The following document covers this part of your request and is publicly available on the
Treasury website:
Item
Date
Document Description
Website Address
1. 20 May
Vote Te Arawhiti – Estimates of
https://www.treasury.govt.nz/sites/default/
2021
Appropriations 2021/22
files/2021-05/est21-v8-tearawh.pdf
Accordingly, I have refused your request for part (a) listed in the above table under
section 18(d) of the OIA:
•
the information requested is or will soon be publicly available.
No information held
In relation to parts (b) and (c), the Treasury does not hold any information on whether
capital expenditure has been met through taxation or borrowing.
The Crown receives revenue such as taxation and if necessary, raises borrowings to
fund the costs of expenses (both operating and capital). Government expenditure is not
differentiated based on whether it is funded from taxation revenue or borrowings and
therefore this split cannot be provided for Tupu Tonu’s capital funding.
I have therefore refused these parts of your request under section 18(g)(i) of the OIA:
•
the information requested is not held by the department and there is no reason to
think that the information is held by another department.
Please note that this letter (with your personal details removed) may be published on
the Treasury website.
This reply addresses the information you requested. Under section 28(3) of the OIA,
you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review any decisions made under this
request. The Ombudsman may be contacted by email at:
[email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
Pooja Patel
Team Leader, Justice, Security, and Government Services
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