Information on the Product Stewardship Scheme
Kate A made this Official Information request to Penny Simmonds
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From: Kate A
Tēnā koe Minister
Pursuant to the Official Information Act 1982, I request the following information. I have itemised my request into clear sections, consistent with the Ombudsman’s guidance for specificity and ease of processing.
1. Correspondence and Advice with Specified Organisations
Please provide all briefings, memos, meeting advice notes, and correspondence (including emails, letters, and file notes) between you and your office staff, and the following organisations, from 1 January 2025 to the present:
a) The Trust for the Destruction of Synthetic Refrigerants (Cool-Safe)
b) A-Gas New Zealand
c) Beijer Ref and any subsidiaries
d) RefDestruct
e) Heat Pump Suppliers Association
f) Institute of Refrigeration, Heating and Air Conditioning Engineers of New Zealand (IHRACE)
2. Synthetic Refrigerants Product Stewardship Scheme
Please provide all briefings, memos, and advice prepared for you or your office regarding the synthetic refrigerants product stewardship scheme, from 1 January 2025 to the present.
3. Meeting-Specific Briefings and Notes
Please provide all briefing papers, meeting notes, memos, or other advice prepared for your office in advance of, or following, the following meetings:
a) A-Gas New Zealand meeting with Mitchell Williamson – 5 March 2025
b) Chemical Destruction Services meeting with Clifton Madgwick, Michelle Kazor, and Aimie Hines – 27 March 2025
c) Trust for the Destruction of Synthetic Refrigerants (Cool-Safe) meeting with Janine Brinsdon and Michelle Kazor – 1 April 2025
d) Heat Pump Suppliers Association meeting with Darryl Rochester and Greg Picker – 15 May 2025
4. Timeliness of Response
I draw your attention to section 15(1)(b) of the Official Information Act, which requires that information be made available “as soon as reasonably practicable.” The Ombudsman has also made clear that agencies should not delay releasing information until the maximum statutory timeframe, nor hold all material for release in a single batch if some is available earlier.
Accordingly, I request that the material covered by this request be released progressively and without undue delay, in tranches if necessary, as soon as it is identified and ready for release.
Ngā mihi nui,
Kate A
From: Penny Simmonds (MIN)
Penny Simmonds
Thank you for contacting Hon. Penny Simmonds, Member of Parliament for
Invercargill, Minister for the Environment, Minister for Vocational
Education and Associate Minister for Social Development & Employment.
The Minister considers all correspondence important, however, as she
receives a large amount of correspondence, it is not always possible to
provide a personal response.
Please note the following guidelines:
* If you are an Invercargill constituent contacting the Minister about
an issue, then your email will be passed to her electorate office.
* Invitations and requests to meet with the Minister will be considered
and a staff member will be in touch with you in due course.
* Requests for official information will be managed in accordance with
provisions of the Official Information Act 1982, which may include a
transfer to a more relevant Minister or agency.
* If your email falls outside of the Minister's portfolio
responsibilities, expresses a personal view, or is copied to multiple
Members of Parliament, then your opinion will be noted and your
correspondence may be transferred to another office, or there may be
no further response to you.
Thank you once again for taking the time to write; it is very much
appreciated.
The Office of Hon. Penny Simmonds
(Please note that this acknowledgement is an automatically generated
email.)
From: Penny Simmonds (MIN)
Penny Simmonds
Dear Katie
On behalf of Hon Penny Simmonds, Minister for the Environment, I confirm receipt of this OIA request.
Kind regards
Office of Hon Penny Simmonds
Minister for the Environment │Vocational Education
Associate Minister for Social Development & Employment
Authorised by Hon Penny Simmonds, 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.
show quoted sections
From: Penny Simmonds (MIN)
Penny Simmonds
Dear Kate,
We are having some technical issues in responding to this OIA request. The
email to lodge the response to your request bounced on Friday.
We have also been made aware that the extension letter was sent to the
wrong address, which also informed of a partial transfer to the Ministry
for the Environment.
Please find this letter attached for your records.
Kind regards,
Iain Forsyth
Private Secretary (Administration) | Office of Hon Penny Simmonds
Minister for the Environment | Minister for Vocational Education
Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment
MP for Invercargill
P: 04 817 6815
Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
Authorised by Hon Penny Simmonds, 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.
From: Penny Simmonds (MIN)
Penny Simmonds
Dear Kate,
On behalf of Hon. Penny Simmonds, please find attached a response to your
request.
The attachments will follow shortly.
Kind regards,
Office of Hon Penny Simmonds
Minister for the Environment | Minister for Vocational Education
Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment
MP for Invercargill
P: 04 817 6815
Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
Authorised by Hon Penny Simmonds, 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.
From: Kate A
Dear Minister Simmonds
I am writing regarding my Official Information Act 1982 request of 2 October 2025.
By way of background, the handling of my request has been as follows.
2 October – Request sent to your office, and acknowledged.
29 October – Letter from the your office advising that parts 2 and 3 would be handled by the Ministry for the Environment, and extending the time limit for part 1 by 20 working days to 28 November.
28 November – The Ministry for the Environment provided a response on parts 2 and 3. No further correspondence has been received from the Minister’s office in relation to part 1.
As at the date of this email, I have received no decision and no information on part 1 of my request.
Failure to decide within the extended timeframe
Section 15(1) of the OIA requires a decision to be made and communicated as soon as reasonably practicable, and no later than 20 working days after the request is received. On 29 October, your office extended the time limit for part 1 under section 15A, with a new due date of 28 November.
That extended deadline has now expired without any decision being communicated on part 1. Under section 28(4), failure to comply with either the original or the extended time limit is treated as a deemed refusal for the purposes of complaint to the Ombudsman.
In other words, as things stand there is already a deemed refusal of part 1 of my request, and the statutory timeframe for making a decision has been exhausted.
Late transfer of parts 2 and 3
I also note that your 29 October letter effectively transferred parts 2 and 3 to the Ministry for the Environment. Section 14 requires transfers to be made promptly, and in any case no later than 10 working days after the request is received. In this case, the transfer decision appears to have been made approximately 20 working days after receipt of the request.
While the Ministry has now responded on those parts, the late transfer contributed to the overall delay in providing a complete response to my request.
Complaint to the Ombudsman and outcome sought
Given that the extended timeframe has expired without a decision on part 1, I am lodging a complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman regarding:
- The deemed refusal of part 1 under section 28(4).
- The late transfer of parts 2 and 3 under section 14, and the resulting delay.
Notwithstanding that complaint, I request that you now:
- Make and communicate a decision on part 1 of my request without further delay, and
- Provide the information that can be released as soon as reasonably practicable.
Please treat this as urgent. I would appreciate written confirmation of the steps you are taking to finalise a response to part 1.
Yours sincerely
Kate A
From: Penny Simmonds (MIN)
Penny Simmonds
Dear Kate,
Attached are the letters in scope of part 1 request.
Apologies on the delay on our end, it appears that the security
classification metadata wasn’t removed from the attachments, which
prevented them being sent.
I trust this answers your concerns you have outlined.
Kind regards,
Office of Hon Penny Simmonds
Minister for the Environment | Minister for Vocational Education
Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment
MP for Invercargill
P: 04 817 6815
Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
Authorised by Hon Penny Simmonds, 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.
Things to do with this request
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- Download a zip file of all correspondence (note: this contains the same information already available above).
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