Attorney General Consistency with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 for vaccination

Erika Whittome made this Official Information request to Judith Collins

Response to this request is delayed. By law, Judith Collins should normally have responded promptly and by (details and exceptions)

From: Erika Whittome

Dear Judith Collins,
There is advice from 23 Nov 2021 on the justified limitations on the Bill of Rights 1990 to require covid-19 vaccination in this document https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/Docum...

This advice is published on the Ministry of Justice's website here https://www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sect...

Paragraph 24 of the AG advice says:
'Vaccination has been shown to substantially reduce transmission of COVID-19 as well as severity of symptoms."

Would you kindly provide the evidence or basis for this statement that vaccination has been shown to substantially reduce transmission of covid-19?

I have been unable to locate any evidence of a reduction in transmission from covid-19 vaccination. The Pfizer trials published in a NEMJ study only evaluated whether a person caught the disease or not. There was no transmission studies nor severity of symptoms evaluated in this study:
"Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine | New England Journal of Medicine" https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NE...
Reducing transmission was not an outcome measured in the trials.

In February 2021 the statement from the Ministry of Health was “…we don’t yet know if it will stop you from catching and passing on the virus”
https://web.archive.org/web/202102261601...

In June 2021, the statement from Medsafe was ' At this stage, we do not know if vaccination prevents or reduces transmission of COVID-19: https://web.archive.org/web/202106300144...

Please supply the information/evidence relied on in this 23 Nov 2021 AG advice to say 'Vaccination has been shown to substantially reduce transmission of COVID-19 as well as severity of symptoms."

Yours faithfully,

Erika Whittome

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From: Judith Collins (MIN)
Judith Collins

Thank you for contacting Hon Judith Collins KC MP, Attorney-General,
Minister of Defence, Minister for Digitising Government, Minister
Responsible for the GCSB, Minister Responsible for the NZSIS, Minister for
the Public Service and Minister for Space.

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Thank you for taking the time to write.

Kind regards
Office of Hon Judith Collins KC MP

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From: Judith Collins (MIN)
Judith Collins

Dear Erika,
This is our acknowledgment of your OIA request.
Warm regards,
Office of Hon Judith Collins KC

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From: Anna Bebbington


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Dear Erika

 

Thank you for your request made under the Official Information Act 1982
(the Act), received on 15 September.

 

“Would you kindly provide the evidence or basis for this statement that
vaccination has been shown to substantially reduce transmission of
covid-19?

Please supply the information/evidence relied on in this 23 Nov 2021 AG
advice to say 'Vaccination has been shown to substantially reduce
transmission of COVID-19 as well as severity of symptoms."

 

After consultation with Crown Law, it has been confirmed that this office
does not hold the requested information, but I believe relevant
information is held by the Ministry of Justice, henceforth your request is
being transferred to the Ministry.

 

Warm regards,

Office of Hon Collins KC

 

Anna Bebbington

Private Secretary (Administration) | Office of Hon Judith Collins KC MP

 

Member of Parliament for Papakura

Attorney-General | Minister of Defence | Minister for Digitising
Government | Minister for the Public Service  Minister Responsible for
the GCSB | Minister Responsible for the NZSIS | Minister for Space

 
 

DDI: 04 817 6808

Email: [1][email address]   Website:
[2]www.Beehive,govt.nz

Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand

 

 

 

Authorised by Hon Judith Collins KC, Parliament Buildings, Wellington

Disclaimer: The information in this email (including attachments) is
confidential and may be legally privileged. If an addressing or
transmission error has misdirected this email, please notify the author by
replying to this email and destroy the message. If you are not the
intended recipient, any use, disclosure, copying or distribution is
prohibited and may be unlawful.

Please note information about meetings related to the Ministers’
portfolios will be proactively released (this does not include personal or
constituency matters). For each meeting in scope, the summary would list:
date, time (start and finish), brief description, location, who the
meeting was with, and the portfolio. If you attend a meeting with the
Minister on behalf of an organisation, the name of the organisation will
be released. If you are a senior staff member at an organisation, or meet
with the Minister in your personal capacity, your name may also be
released. The location of the meeting will be released, unless it is a
private residence. The proactive release will be consistent with the
provisions in the Official Information Act, including privacy
considerations. Under the Privacy Act 1993 you have the right to ask for a
copy of any personal information we hold about you, and to ask for it to
be corrected if you think it is wrong. If you’d like to ask for a copy of
your information, or to have it corrected, or are concerned about the
release of your information in the meeting disclosure, please contact the
sender. You can read more about the proactive release policy at
[3]https://www.dia.govt.nz/Proactive-Releas...

 

 

 

 

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From: OIA@justice.govt.nz


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Tēnā koe Erika,

We acknowledge receipt of your request under the Official Information Act
1982. 

This has been forwarded onto the relevant business unit to respond to. 

The Ministry may publish the response to your request on our website, you
can expect that if your OIA is to be published that this will take place
at least 10 working days after it has been sent you. Your name and any
other personal information will be withheld under Section 9(2)(a) (protect
the privacy of natural persons). 

You can expect a response by 24 October 2025.

Ngā mihi nui,

 

Ministerial Services

   

Communications and Ministerial Services | Corporate Services

Ministry of Justice | Tāhū o te Ture [1]justice.govt.nz

 

 

From: Anna Bebbington <[email address]>
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2025 4:02 PM
To: [FOI #32289 email]
Subject: RE: JCOIA-430 FW: Official Information request - Attorney General
Consistency with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 for vaccination

 

Dear Erika

 

Thank you for your request made under the Official Information Act 1982
(the Act), received on 15 September.

 

“Would you kindly provide the evidence or basis for this statement that
vaccination has been shown to substantially reduce transmission of
covid-19?

Please supply the information/evidence relied on in this 23 Nov 2021 AG
advice to say 'Vaccination has been shown to substantially reduce
transmission of COVID-19 as well as severity of symptoms."

 

After consultation with Crown Law, it has been confirmed that this office
does not hold the requested information, but I believe relevant
information is held by the Ministry of Justice, henceforth your request is
being transferred to the Ministry.

 

Warm regards,

Office of Hon Collins KC

 

Anna Bebbington

Private Secretary (Administration) | Office of Hon Judith Collins KC MP

 

Member of Parliament for Papakura

Attorney-General | Minister of Defence | Minister for Digitising
Government | Minister for the Public Service  Minister Responsible for
the GCSB | Minister Responsible for the NZSIS | Minister for Space

 
 

DDI: 04 817 6808

Email: [2][email address]   Website:
[3]www.Beehive,govt.nz

Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand

 

 

 

Authorised by Hon Judith Collins KC, Parliament Buildings, Wellington

Disclaimer: The information in this email (including attachments) is
confidential and may be legally privileged. If an addressing or
transmission error has misdirected this email, please notify the author by
replying to this email and destroy the message. If you are not the
intended recipient, any use, disclosure, copying or distribution is
prohibited and may be unlawful.

Please note information about meetings related to the Ministers’
portfolios will be proactively released (this does not include personal or
constituency matters). For each meeting in scope, the summary would list:
date, time (start and finish), brief description, location, who the
meeting was with, and the portfolio. If you attend a meeting with the
Minister on behalf of an organisation, the name of the organisation will
be released. If you are a senior staff member at an organisation, or meet
with the Minister in your personal capacity, your name may also be
released. The location of the meeting will be released, unless it is a
private residence. The proactive release will be consistent with the
provisions in the Official Information Act, including privacy
considerations. Under the Privacy Act 1993 you have the right to ask for a
copy of any personal information we hold about you, and to ask for it to
be corrected if you think it is wrong. If you’d like to ask for a copy of
your information, or to have it corrected, or are concerned about the
release of your information in the meeting disclosure, please contact the
sender. You can read more about the proactive release policy at
[4]https://www.dia.govt.nz/Proactive-Releas...

 

 

 

 

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