30 September 2025
45 Pipitea Street, Thorndon, Wel ington 6011
PO Box 805, Wel ington
Phone: 04 495 7200
Libby Bentley
Email
: [email address]
[FYI request #32129 email]
Website: dia.govt.nz
Tēnā koe Libby,
Your Official Information Act 1982 request, reference OIA 2425-0239
I am responding to your email of 26 August 2025 to the Department of Internal Affairs (the
Department) requesting the fol owing under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
information related to the $100 million “Local Government Flood Resilience Co-
Investment Fund”, as described under the “Initiatives for North Island Weather Events
Response and Recovery Package” in the 2023 Budget:
1. Al Cabinet papers, Ministerial briefings, internal advice, or other documents that
supported or informed the creation of this Fund.
2. Any documents that outline the purpose, scope, criteria, or proposed mechanisms
for how the funding wil be allocated or accessed
3. Any documents relating to the eligibility criteria for the fund,
4. Any material prepared for or by the Minister of Local Government, Minister for
Regional Economic Development, Minister for Climate Change, or Minister of Finance,
relating to the joint agreement required to draw down the tagged contingency.
5. Any documents that confirm approval or agreement to the use of the fund, if that
has occurred.
Partial transfers of your request and extension to your request
On 9 September 2025, the Department transferred part of your request to the Department
of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, under section 14 of the Act. The Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet wil respond in due course to your request.
On 23 September 2025, the Department advised that under section 15A(1)(b) of the Act the
timeframe to respond to your request had been extended by 5 working days to
30 September 2025. This is because consultations necessary to make a decision on your
request were such that the Department could not respond within the original time limit.
Fol owing consultation, on 24 September 2025, the Department transferred part of your
request to the Treasury, under section 14 of the Act, namely section for materials prepared
for or by the Minister of Finance. The Treasury wil respond in due course to your request.
Response to your request
I am partially releasing three documents in scope of your request, with some information
withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the Act, to protect the privacy of natural persons. Please
find these listed in the table below, and attached as
Appendix A.
These documents support and inform the creation of the Flood Resilience Co-Investment
Fund. I wish to note that the responsibility for this fund remains with the Department of the
Prime Minister and Cabinet, as it was not included in the transition of the flood resilience
programme to the Department.
Public interest considerations As is required by section 9(1) of the Act, consideration has been given as to whether the
withholding of information is outweighed by other public interest considerations which
would make it desirable to make this information available. In this instance, it is not
considered to be the case.
Accessing the Ombudsman
You have the right to seek an investigation and review of my decision by the Office of the
Ombudsman. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Proactive release
We intend to publish our response to your request on our website at:
www.dia.govt.nz/Official-Information-Act-Requests-2. This letter, with your personal details
removed, will be published in its entirety. Publishing responses increases the availability of
information to the public and is consistent with the Act’s purpose of enabling more effective
participation in the making and administration of laws and policies and promoting the
accountability of Ministers and officials.
Nāku noa, nā
Jeremy Cauchi
Director, Ministerial and Monitoring
Table: Documents within scope
No. Title
Date
Decision (Release, partial
Withholding grounds
release or withhold)
under the Act
1 Briefing: Budget 23 – initial design decisions for the Local
8 December 2022
Partially released
9(2)(a)
Government Flood Resilience Co-investment Fund
2 Briefing: Next steps on the local government flood resilience 9 May 2023
Partially released
9(2)(a)
budget initiative
3 Briefing: Accelerating the distribution of the local
24 May 2023
Partially released
9(2)(a)
government resilience co-investment fund
