Tēnā koe, 

Thank you for emailing the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
(DPMC).

DPMC cannot respond to emails that are outside its scope. If the subject
of your email does not relate to the work of DPMC, we may forward your
email to the appropriate Minister or agency who will respond to you
directly. To find out more about DPMC's functions please view our
website [1]https://dpmc.govt.nz.
If your correspondence is intended for the Prime Minister please email his
office at [email address]. Contact information for
other Members of Parliament can be found at
[2]https://www.parliament.nz/en/get-involve....

Common questions:

Official Information Act (OIA) requests will be formally acknowledged
during office hours and actioned accordingly. For more information about
the statutory OIA timeframes please see
[3]http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/.
For job opportunities within DPMC see
[4]https://centralagenciesjobs.cass.govt.nz... use this
website to apply for vacancies. Resumes received through other avenues
will not be considered.
New Zealand visas and requests for asylum are managed by Immigration New
Zealand. Please see [5]https://www.immigration.govt.nz/. 
We hope one of the above links helps answer your question. Thanks again
and please take care.
Link: [6]File-List
Link: [7]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [8]themeData
Link: [9]colorSchemeMapping

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[IN-CONFIDENCE]

 

Kia ora,

 

Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA)
received on 4 October 2025, copied below. We will respond to your request
within the statutory timeframes set out in the Act. If we are unable to
meet these timeframes we will notify you.

 

Your request will be managed by the Ministerial Services team within DPMC.
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact us at
[1][DPMC request email].

 

DPMC may publish the response to your OIA request. If we publish the
response your personal information, including your name and contact
details, will be removed.

 

Ngā mihi,

 

Ministerial Coordinator
Ministerial Services
Strategy, Governance and Engagement
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
E    [2][DPMC request email]
 
 
The information contained in this email message is for the attention of
the intended recipient only and is not necessarily the official view or
communication of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. If you
are not the intended recipient you must not disclose, copy or distribute
this message or the information in it. If you have received this message
in error, please destroy the email and notify the sender immediately.

 

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[UNCLASSIFIED]

 

Kia ora,

 

Please see the attached letter regarding your recent OIA request.

 

Ngā mihi,

 

Ministerial Coordinator
Ministerial Services
Strategy, Governance and Engagement
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
E    [1][DPMC request email]
 
 
The information contained in this email message is for the attention of
the intended recipient only and is not necessarily the official view or
communication of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. If you
are not the intended recipient you must not disclose, copy or distribute
this message or the information in it. If you have received this message
in error, please destroy the email and notify the sender immediately.

 

Link: [2]File-List
Link: [3]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [4]themeData
Link: [5]colorSchemeMapping

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The information contained in this email message is for the attention of
the intended recipient only and is not necessarily the official view or
communication of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. If you
are not the intended recipient you must not disclose, copy or distribute
this message or the information in it. If you have received this message
in error, please destroy the email and notify the sender immediately.

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[DPMC request email]
2. file:///tmp/Signature_files/filelist.xml
3. file:///tmp/Signature_files/editdata.mso
4. file:///tmp/Signature_files/themedata.thmx
5. file:///tmp/Signature_files/colorschememapping.xml
6. file:///tmp/Signature_files/filelist.xml
7. file:///tmp/Signature_files/editdata.mso
8. file:///tmp/Signature_files/themedata.thmx
9. file:///tmp/Signature_files/colorschememapping.xml

Dear John Arsmtrong

 

We refer to your request which was transferred from the Department of the
Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) to the Department of Internal Affairs
(the Department) under the Official Information Act (the Act) dated on 14
October 2025.

 

The following part of your request was transferred to the Department:

 

“internal correspondence between the Prime Minister and cabinet with
Medsafe, the Ministry of Health, or Crown Law concerning the grant of
provisional consent to Comirnaty (Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine) under
s23 of the Medicines Act 1981”

 

The Department will provide its response to your request as soon as
practicable and within twenty working days. The due date for your request
is 12 November 2025.

 

The Department is also writing to notify that as your request is broad in
nature, it will require substantial collation and research and therefore
may likely be refused under section 18(f) of the Act. The Department is
required under section 18B of the Act to consult with you about amending
your request to a form that would remove our reasons for refusal.
Furthermore, section 12 of the Act requires official information requested
to be specified with due particularity in the request.

 

As such, please refine or provide a clarification in relation to your
request by COB 22 October 2025.  If we do not receive a refinement from
you, a decision may be made based on the information we hold at hand. If
you would like further assistance in relation to your request, kindly
reply back to this email.

 

 

Regards,

 

Ministerial Services

Partnerships and Commissions Branch

Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua

[1]www.dia.govt.nz

 

[2]Logo: Internal Affairs - Te Tari Taiwhenua

 

References

Visible links
1. http://www.dia.govt.nz/

Dear John

While the Department's Ministerial Services Group is deemed to hold the records of former Ministers of the Crown, we do not have the ability to perform searches on the parliamentary server where the electronic records are stored. To locate and retrieve information related to former Ministers, we require Parliamentary Service (PS) to conduct the necessary searches on our behalf.

Searches for electronic records on the parliamentary server capture relevant information saved by the Minister or their staff. While the Department provides record-keeping advice regarding their obligations, decisions about what information is retained and stored remain the responsibility of the individual Minister, with support from their office.

As the period from 1 October 2020 to June 2021 is quite broad, using keyword searches such as "Risk assessment," "Provisional consent," "Pfizer," "COVID-19 vaccine," and "Medicines Act" may result in a large volume of email correspondence being returned. This could include media alerts and emails from members of the public where these search terms appear.

Therefore, we kindly ask that you refine the time period for your search to something more specific-e.g., a window of two to four weeks.

Additionally, you may wish to further refine your request by suggesting specific keyword searches within a shorter time period to help us better identify the information you require.

Regards,

Ministerial Services
Partnerships and Commissions Branch
Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
http://www.dia.govt.nz/

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Dear John

Thank you for refining your OIA request.

We will attempt to undertake a targeted search of the agreed keywords of "Risk assessment", "Provisional consent", "Pfizer", "COVID-19 vaccine" and "Medicines Act" between 1 February 2021 to 31 May 2025.

Please note, as a refinement/clarification of your OIA request was sought within 7 working days of the original date of request, we have restarted the timeframe to respond to your request from 21 October 2025 onwards.

You have the right to complain to the Ombudsman about this decision. Relevant information about how to make a complaint is available at http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/ or freephone 0800 802 602.

The Department will be in touch with you if were require further clarification.

Regards,

Ministerial Services
Partnerships and Commissions Branch
Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
http://www.dia.govt.nz/

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Dear John

This email is to inform you of the outcome of the keyword searches conducted in response to your refined request dated 21 October 2025.

The Department commissioned Parliamentary Services to undertake a record search for the email inboxes for Former Prime Minister Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern and Former COVID- 19 Recovery Minister, Rt Hon Chris Hipkins. The search used the following keyword combinations:

"Risk assessment" and "Medicines Act"
"Provisional consent" and "Pfizer"
"Provisional consent" and "COVID-19 vaccine"

The search covered the period from 1 February 2021 to 31 May 2021 and resulted in the identification of 2,172 email chains containing the specified keywords.

As previously advised, processing this volume of information would require significant collation and research. Accordingly, the request may be refused under section 18(f) of the Act due to the substantial administrative burden involved.

To help us avoid refusal and proceed with your request, we kindly ask that you further refine the scope of your request. Please provide your revised request by close of business on 28 October 2025.

Regards,

Ministerial Services
Partnerships and Commissions Branch
Department of Internal Affairs | Te Tari Taiwhenua
http://www.dia.govt.nz/

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