From:
Penny Simmonds (MIN) fyi-
To:
[email address]
Bcc:
Environment Portfolio
Subject:
PSME-OI-25-050
Date:
Wednesday, 29 October 2025 4:39:30 PM
Dear Kate
Thank you for your email of 2 October 2025 requesting the following under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
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
My office does not hold any further information relating to parts 2 and 3 of your request that is not already held by the Ministry for
the Environment (the Ministry), who I understand has also received a similar request from you. In these circumstances, I
consider it is more appropriate for the Ministry to respond to these parts of your request, therefore the information requested will
be provided in the departmental Official Information Act request you have made to the Ministry for the Environment.
I am also extending the timeframe for response to part 1 of your request under section 15A(1)(b) of the Act, as consultations
necessary to make a decision on the request are such that a proper response cannot reasonably be made within the original
timeframe.
We will now respond to your request on, if not before, 28 November 2025, which is an extension of 20 working days.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Office of the Ombudsman of my decisions relating to this request, in
accordance with section 28(3) of the Act. The relevant details can be found at: www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
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.
