Môrena Marie,
 
Thank you for your information request sent to Maritime NZ on 15 September
as below.
 
We will respond to your request in accordance with the Official
Information Act 1982 (OIA). We will notify you of the decision on your
request as soon as reasonably practicable and, in any case, no later than
13 October 2025, being 20 working days after the day your request was
received. If we are not able to respond to your request by 13 October, we
will notify you of an extension to that timeframe.
 
If you have any queries regarding your request, please don’t hesitate to
contact us.
 
Ngâ mihi
 
Megan
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Marie <[FOI #32319 email]>
Sent: Monday, 15 September 2025 4:50 pm
To: Ministerial Services <[Maritime New Zealand request email]>
Subject: EXTERNAL: Official Information request - Decision not to
prosecute recreation fatality
 
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not
click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know
the content is safe.
 
 
Dear Maritime New Zealand,
 
Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) chose not to prosecute a recreational jetski
driver (November 2021, Waitara River) after the person on the ski biscuit
died as a result of speeding and hitting a structure.  This incident was
two weeks prior to an incident on lake Wakatipu that resulted in a person
spilling hot oil on their foot when the boat grounded, that injury just
required cleaning and redressing.  The skipper who was not driving at the
time of the grounding was prosecuted by Maritime NZ after the victim went
to his MNZ maritime officers friends house on the weekend to lay a
complaint about the incident.  That officer then led the investigation and
recommended the prosecution of his mates enemy.
 
1. Please provide all communications, documents etc that resulted in the
Waitara driver not being prosecuted for this fatal accident.
 
2. Please provide all communications and documents used to ensure
consistency in prosecution decisions within MNZ. ie; not prosecuting a
fatal incident yet prosecuting a minor injury incident where the victim
was mates with the Maritime NZ officer who led the investigation and
recommended the prosecutions.
 
3. In the last 10 years how many fatal recreational incidents have
occurred where the driver of the vessel survived? How many of those
drivers involved in a fatal recreational incident were prosecuted in the
10 years.
 
4. How many formal investigations have been launched for recreational
incidents under the jurisdiction of the Invercargill Maritime office in
the last 10 years.
 
5. How many people have been prosecuted as a result of recreational
incident investigations undertaken by the MNZ Invercargill office in the
last 10 years.  How many of those prosecutions were of people involved in
fatal incidents.
 
Yours faithfully,
 
Marie
 
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-------------------------------------------------------------------
 
This email message and any accompanying attachments do not necessarily
reflect the views of Maritime New Zealand and may contain information that
is in confidence and subject to legal privilege. Any classification
markings must be adhered to. If you are not the intended recipient, you
must not use, disseminate, distribute or copy this email message or its
attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the
sender by email immediately, and delete all copies of this message and
attachments. Thank you. Address: Maritime New Zealand, Level 11, 1 Grey
Street, Wellington 6011, PO Box 25620, Wellington 6140, Tel: 0508 22 55 22
(04 473 0111) Fax: 04 494 1263. [5]www.maritimenz.govt.nz For official
information requests, please email
[email address].
This email message and any accompanying attachments do not necessarily
reflect the views of Maritime New Zealand and may contain information that
is in confidence and subject to legal privilege. Any classification
markings must be adhered to. If you are not the intended recipient, you
must not use, disseminate, distribute or copy this email message or its
attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the
sender by email immediately, and delete all copies of this message and
attachments. Thank you. Address: Maritime New Zealand, Level 11, 1 Grey
Street, Wellington 6011, PO Box 25620, Wellington 6140, Tel: 0508 22 55 22
(04 473 0111) Fax: 04 494 1263. www.maritimenz.govt.nz For official
information requests, please email
[email address].

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