OIA131086 Whittome.pdf

Justice Centre | 19 Aitken Street
DX SX10088 | Wel ington
T 04 918 8800 | F 04 918 8820
[email address] | www.justice.govt.nz

4 May 2026

Erika Whittome
[FYI request #32289 email]

Our ref: OIA 131086

Tēnā koe Erika

Official Information Act request: Further to OIA 126311

Thank you for your email of 17 March 2026 to the Ministry of Justice (the Ministry),
requesting information under the Of icial Information Act 1982 (the Act).
You had previously asked the At orney-General to provide you with the evidence or basis for
the statement, in her 23 November 2021 advice on the consistency of the COVID-19
(Vaccinations) Legislation Bil  (the Bill) with the New Zealand Bil  of Rights Act 1990, that
“[v]accination has been shown to substantially reduce transmission of COVID-19 as well as
severity of symptoms” (OIA 126311). Your request was transferred to the Ministry to
respond.
On 12 November 2025 the Ministry refused your request under s 9(2)(h) of the Act. The
response noted that the statement you had quoted was consistent with public health advice
contained in briefings that were provided to Ministers and Cabinet when they made
decisions on the Bill, and that had since been released on the Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet’s website.
On 17 March 2026 you sent a further request as follows:
Information has been redacted citing legal Privilege.
Yes I wish to receive the requested information and ask for the following:
As well as ethical obligations, the attorney client privilege does not cover the
cooperation and planning and enabling of the continued violation of laws. Can I
please have confirmation that your withheld information does not discuss any
violations of laws, such as the New Zealand Bil  of Rights and the Human Rights Act
1990 or any other constitutional legislation
On 17 April 2026, the Ministry advised you the timeframe to respond to your request
was extended, in line with section 15A(1)(b) of the Act. This was because consultations were
necessary to make a decision on your request which meant a response could not be made
within the original time limit. You were advised we would respond before 5 May 2026.

For context, to assist the Ministry to advise the At orney-General on the rights-consistency of
proposed legislation, the relevant policy agency often provides with the Ministry with
associated policy documents as background information. The Ministry may also consult
other publicly available information.

In the case of the COVID 19 (Vaccinations) Legislation Bil , the Ministry received background
information from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Department of
Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Ministry of Health. The documents listed in the attached
table were received as background information, and may have been relevant to or formed
part of the basis for the statement you asked about in your initial request. We do not have a
record of any other material that might have been considered as it was not specifically cited
or saved.

In general, section 9(2)(h) of the Act applies to the background materials relating to the
Attorney-General’s advice to Parliament on the consistency of proposed legislation with the
Bill of Rights Act. However, on reflection, we no longer take the view that section 9(2)(h)
must be considered to apply to policy documents provided by the relevant agencies to
support the Bil  of Rights Act vetting process. This is because those documents were
prepared independently of that process for a different purpose, and were provided as
background information only.

As such, I have considered that these documents are now in scope of your request. Please
refer to the documents listed in the attached table, noting the following refusal or withholding
reasons:
•  section 9(2)(h) of the Act to maintain legal professional privilege, and
•  section 18(d) of the Act as the information is publicly available.

In withholding information under section 9 of the Act, I have considered the public interest
and do not consider it outweighs withholding the information at this time.

The Ministry considers that this decision is likely to resolve your complaint to the
Ombudsman about the Ministry’s response to your earlier OIA request (OMB ref 033560),
and wil  therefore provide a copy of this correspondence to the Ombudsman.

Please note this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry website at: Of icial Information Act responses | New Zealand Ministry of Justice.

If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman under section 28 of the Act. The Office of the Ombudsman may be contacted
by phone on: 0800 802 602, by email at: [email address], or via the
webform: Make a complaint (for members of the public) | Ombudsman New Zealand.

Nāku noa, nā

Kathy Brightwell
General Manager, Civil & Constitutional Policy Group

CC: Nick Kennedy, Manager – Early Resolution, Ombudsman

Table 1: Background material in scope of your request

Doc
no
Date
Document type  Description
Decision on release
Refused under section 18(d) of the Act as this
1
12 October 2021
Briefing
Legislation to support COVID-19 vaccination
information is publicly available here: Legislation to
support COVID-19 vaccination
Refused under section 18(d) of the Act as this
2
14 October 2021
Joint briefing
COVID-19 VACCINE CERTIFICATES –
SETTINGS FOR DOMESTIC USE
information is publicly available here: COVID-19-
Vaccine-Certificates-set ings-for-domestic-use.pdf
Refused under section 18(d) of the Act as this
3
26 October 2021
Cabinet Paper
Supporting COVID-19 Vaccination
information is publicly available here: Supporting
Requirements in the Workplace
COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements in the
Workplace
Refused under section 18(d) of the Act as this
4
26 October 2021
Cabinet Minute
COVID-19 Vaccination Certificates:
information is publicly available here: COVID-19-
Implementation in Domestic Settings
Vaccination-Certificates-Implementation-in-
Domestic-Settings.pdf
Refused under section 18(d) of the Act as this
5
26 October 2021
Cabinet Minute
Supporting COVID-19 vaccination requirements  information is publicly available here: Supporting
in the workplace
COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements in the
Workplace Cabinet Minute
Refused under section 18(d) of the Act as this
6
26 October 2021
Cabinet Paper
COVID-19 VACCINATION CERTIFICATES:
information is publicly available here: COVID-19-
IMPLEMENTATION IN DOMESTIC SETTINGS  Vaccination-Certificates-Implementation-in-
Domestic-Settings.pdf
COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020
7
27 October 2021  Drafting instructions  (Vaccinations) Amendment Bil  2021– Drafting
Withheld in full under section 9(2)(h) of the Act.
Instructions