Fale Andrew Lesā meeting Malaysian government officials
john luke made this Official Information request to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
This request has an unknown status. We're waiting for john luke to read a recent response and update the status.
From: john luke
Dear Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
I noted,
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story...
In that link, it appears to show photos of Mr Lesa meeting Malaysian government officials and the post state “The Selangor State Exco, YB Tuan Ganabatirau Veraman had a fruitful meeting with Mr Fale Andrew Lesa, City Councillor of the Manurewa Local Board - Auckland City Council & Samoan Native United Nations Diplomat and the Special Officer to Jacinda Prime Minister of New Zealand at Selangor State Secretariat Building (SUK) Shah Alam.
I am writing to seek clarification under the OIA regarding Andrew Lesā’s apparent participation in a meeting with a high-ranking Malaysian government official, as seen in a social media post circulating publicly.
In what capacity was Mr. Lesā representing New Zealand during this meeting?
Was his involvement officially approved or sanctioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT)?
What are the formal rules and protocols governing how New Zealand citizens—particularly local board members—can represent the country in official government-to-government engagements?
Was Mr. Lesā acting on behalf of the New Zealand Government, Auckland Council, or in a personal capacity during this visit?
Was the trip undertaken in an official or private capacity?
The post appears to originate from a Special Officer to a Malaysian Minister, and notably describes Mr. Lesā as a “Special Officer to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.” If this claim is inaccurate, has there been a misrepresentation of his position to a foreign government?
Given the potential implications for New Zealand’s diplomatic relations, I raise these concerns for your dutiful attention and would appreciate any clarification you can provide.
Yours faithfully,
john luke
From: ENQUIRIES
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Kia ora,
Thank you for your email.
Please see the below links to ensure you are sending your enquiry to the
correct location.
For all other enquiries that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is
responsible for, you will receive a response in due course.
Immigration, Travel and Visa Enquires:
* New Zealand visas, asylum and other immigrations matters - contact
Immigration New Zealand, by emailing
[1][email address] or visit the Immigration
New Zealand website at: [2]https://www.immigration.govt.nz/ revised
* Visas for other countries and contact details for the foreign
embassies – refer to the relevant foreign representative to New
Zealand. A full list is available at
[3]https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/embassies/.
* Advice for New Zealanders living and travelling overseas – visit Home
| [4]https://www.safetravel.govt.nz/
* Consular issues - or if you are a New Zealand citizen overseas needing
assistance, email: [5][email address].
Customs and NZ Suppliers/Companies:
* Bringing goods into New Zealand - visit the New Zealand Customs
website at: [6]www.customs.govt.nz.
* NZ suppliers or companies - visit the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise
website at: [7]www.nzte.govt.nz.
Authentication, Citizenship and Passports:
* New Zealand passports - visit the Internal Affairs website at:
[8]www.passports.govt.nz.
* New Zealand citizenship - visit the Internal Affairs website at:
[9]www.dia.govt.nz/New-Zealand-citizenship.
* Authentication of documents and Apostilles - visit the Internal
Affairs website at: [10]www.dia.govt.nz/document-authentication
* To attest fingerprints - visit
[11]https://www.police.govt.nz/faq/having-fi...
MFAT Jobs, Scholarships and Graduate Programme:
* New Zealand Scholarships - email [12][email address]
* MFAT Vacancies - visit our website at:
[13]https://vacancies.mfat.govt.nz/.
* MFAT Graduate Programme - email: [14][email address].
OIA requests
* If you have made a request under the Official Information Act 1982,
the Ministry will be in touch to acknowledge your request and discuss
it further if necessary. [15]Official Information Act requests | New
Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Ngâ mihi
MFAT ENQUIRIES
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade | Manatû Aorere
195 Lambton Quay, Private Bag 18901
Wellington 6160
New Zealand
[16]www.mfat.govt.nz | [17]www.safetravel.govt.nz
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The information contained in this email message is intended only for the
addressee and is not necessarily the official view or communication of the
Ministry. It may be legally privileged. If you are not the intended
recipient you must not use, disclose, copy or distribute this message or
the information in it as this may be unlawful. If you have received this
message in error, please email or telephone the sender immediately."
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/
3. https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/embassies/
4. https://www.safetravel.govt.nz/
5. mailto:[email address]
6. http://www.customs.govt.nz/
7. http://www.nzte.govt.nz/
8. http://www.passports.govt.nz/
9. http://www.dia.govt.nz/New-Zealand-citiz...
10. http://www.dia.govt.nz/document-authenti...
11. https://www.police.govt.nz/faq/having-fi...
12. mailto:[email address]
13. https://vacancies.mfat.govt.nz/
14. mailto:[email address]
15. https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/about-us/con...
16. file:///AMasters/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.Outlook/AGDSL449/www.mfat.govt.nz
17. http://www.safetravel.govt.nz/
hide quoted sections
News Reader left an annotation ()
Hey John, I’m just repasting the above link re: Mr Lesa’s meeting with Malaysian Deputy PM in case the original link has an accessibility issues . Here it is : https://www.facebook.com/mohd.n.faiz.10/...
From: ESD
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
[UNCLASSIFIED]
UNCLASSIFIED
Tçnâ koe John Luke,
On behalf of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, please see
attached the response to your OIA request.
Kind regards,
Executive Services Division
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade | Manatû Aorere
UNCLASSIFIED
From: john luke <[1][FOI #32178 email]>
Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2025 11:57 PM
To: ENQUIRIES <[2][MFAT request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - Fale Andrew Lesâ meeting Malaysian
government officials
Dear Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
I noted,
[3]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
In that link, it appears to show photos of Mr Lesa meeting Malaysian
government officials and the post state “The Selangor State Exco, YB Tuan
Ganabatirau Veraman had a fruitful meeting with Mr Fale Andrew Lesa, City
Councillor of the Manurewa Local Board - Auckland City Council & Samoan
Native United Nations Diplomat and the Special Officer to Jacinda Prime
Minister of New Zealand at Selangor State Secretariat Building (SUK) Shah
Alam.
I am writing to seek clarification under the OIA regarding Andrew Lesâ’s
apparent participation in a meeting with a high-ranking Malaysian
government official, as seen in a social media post circulating publicly.
In what capacity was Mr. Lesâ representing New Zealand during this
meeting?
Was his involvement officially approved or sanctioned by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT)?
What are the formal rules and protocols governing how New Zealand
citizens—particularly local board members—can represent the country in
official government-to-government engagements?
Was Mr. Lesâ acting on behalf of the New Zealand Government, Auckland
Council, or in a personal capacity during this visit?
Was the trip undertaken in an official or private capacity?
The post appears to originate from a Special Officer to a Malaysian
Minister, and notably describes Mr. Lesâ as a “Special Officer to Prime
Minister Jacinda Ardern.” If this claim is inaccurate, has there been a
misrepresentation of his position to a foreign government?
Given the potential implications for New Zealand’s diplomatic relations, I
raise these concerns for your dutiful attention and would appreciate any
clarification you can provide.
Yours faithfully,
john luke
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[4][FOI #32178 email]
Is [5][MFAT request email] the wrong address for Official Information
requests to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade? If so, please contact
us using this form:
[6]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[7]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The information contained in this email message is intended only for the
addressee and is not necessarily the official view or communication of the
Ministry. It may be legally privileged. If you are not the intended
recipient you must not use, disclose, copy or distribute this message or
the information in it as this may be unlawful. If you have received this
message in error, please email or telephone the sender immediately."
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #32178 email]
2. mailto:[MFAT request email]
3. https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story...
4. mailto:[FOI #32178 email]
5. mailto:[MFAT request email]
6. https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
7. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
hide quoted sections
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence (note: this contains the same information already available above).
Offensive? Unsuitable?
Requests for personal information and vexatious requests are not considered valid requests for Official Information (read more).
If you believe this request is not suitable, you can report it for attention by the site administrators
Report this requestAct on what you've learnt
Similar requests
Fale Andrew Lesā- special officer to the then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
To Christopher Luxon by john luke
Fale Andrew Lesā- special officer to the then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
To Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet by john luke
Fale Andrew Lesā- City Councillor of the Manurewa Local Board - Auckland City Council
To Auckland Council by john luke
News Reader left an annotation ()
Hey John, just an FYI regarding this for purposes of the OIA which I see you have concurrently raised with PM’s office. It appears the “Special Officer to the NZ Prime Minister” position claim is not isolated. In a publicly available Facebook link (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_f...), it appears this claim was also represented at the highest levels of the Malaysian government including when Mr Lesa formally met Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia , Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Link to this