Document 1
From:
Nicole McKee (MIN)
To:
s9(2)(a)
Subject:
Letter from Hon Nicole McKee, Associate Minister of Justice
1982
Date:
Tuesday, 16 September 2025 10:08:32
Attachments:
image002.jpg
Letter from Hon Nicole McKee 16 September 2025.pdf
Kia ora,
ACT
Please find attached a letter from Hon Nicole McKee.
Ngā mihi,
Office of Hon Nicole McKee
Minister of Courts | Associate Minister of Justice
Email:
[email address]
Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
Authorised by Hon. Nicole McKee, 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.
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Document 1.1
1982
ACT
s(9)(2)(a)
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Document 2
From:
Andrew Lesa
To:
Nicole McKee (MIN)
Cc:
Admin, Legal
1982
Subject:
Re: Letter from Hon Nicole McKee, Associate Minister of Justice
Date:
Friday, 3 October 2025 10:20:02
Attachments:
image002.jpg
MoJ Lesa.pdf
FYI.
ACT
From: Nicole McKee (MIN)
Sent: Tuesday, 16 September 2025 10:08 am
To: s9(2)(a)
Subject: Letter from Hon Nicole McKee, Associate Minister of Justice
Kia ora,
Please find attached a letter from Hon Nicole McKee.
Ngā mihi,
Office of Hon Nicole McKee
Minister of Courts | Associate Minister of Justice
Email:
[email address]
Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
Authorised by Hon. Nicole McKee, Parliament Buildings, Wellington
INFORMATION
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.
OFFICIAL
THE
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RELEASED
Document 2.1
Fale Andrew Lesā
s9(2)(a)
1982
Friday 03 October 2025
ACT
Hon Nicole Mckee
1 Molesworth Street
Wellington
RE: JP and Visiting Justice appointments?
Tena koe Minister,
Thank you for your letter dated 16 September 2025. Please accept my apology for the delay.
I was seeking legal advice.
In your letter you describe and I quote “A range of publicly available sources over many
years indicates that you have said or implied that you have worked for a lengthy period of
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time as a diplomat (including for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and/or the United
Nations); you have worked for several international organisations; and you had obtained
several different university degrees.”
I request a copy of these sources. I have supported the work of the UN, the Asian
Development Bank, the Commonwealth, the Council of Europe, and many others for over
sixteen years and have travelled extensively to do so. The definition of a diplomat includes
those who work in multilateral spaces. I continue to believe that diplomat was the best way
to describe what I did. My transcripts provide proof of my academic study.
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The letter of appointment from ACC includes the following key statement “Advising the
Minister whether the MSL is invested in compliance with the ACC Act.” I believed this to
mean that I was performing the duties of a director.
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I am not convinced that the matters raised warrant my removal. I am aware that JPs have
survived much more serious charges over the years. I urge you to consider my age. Many of
the matters raised took place in my early years as a young adult (my career in governance
when I was just nineteen). I am not convinced that they represent genuine deceit but rather
youthful naivety.
I very much look forward to your response.
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My best wishes,
Fale Andrew Lesa.
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Document 3
From:
Nicole McKee (MIN)
To:
s9(2)(a)
Subject:
Letter from the Associate Minister of Justice - Hon Nicole McKee
1982
Date:
Friday, 17 October 2025 07:52:55
Attachments:
Letter from Hon Nicole McKee 17 Oct 2025.pdf
Kia ora,
Please find attached a letter from Hon Nicole McKee.
ACT
Ngā mihi,
Office of Hon Nicole McKee
Minister of Courts | Associate Minister of Justice
Email:
[email address]
Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
Authorised by Hon. Nicole McKee, 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.
INFORMATION
OFFICIAL
THE
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RELEASED
Document 3.1
1982
ACT
17 October 2025
Fale Andrew Lesa, JP
s9(2)(a)
Dear Mr Lesa
Justice of the Peace and Visiting Justice positions
Thank you for your letter of 3 October 2025, in reply to my letter of 16 September. I
have considered your response.
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The publicly-available sources referred to in my previous letter were those contained
in the documentation that the Ministry had provided to you on 8 August.
I am not persuaded that your response should cause me to alter my preliminary view.
Your letter does not satisfactorily explain the behaviour outlined in my preliminary
view, either by providing a sufficient justification, or a sufficient excuse, for the various
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misleading or exaggerated claims about your qualifications and experience. In
particular, your continued insistence in your letter on the appropriateness of describing
yourself as a “diplomat”, and as a “director” of ACC, without offering any proper
substantiation, shows a lack of judgement. Your academic records do not assist either.
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I remain of the view that your behaviour shows a long-standing pattern, on many
occasions and over many years, of being willing to mislead, or exaggerate, over
numerous important matters of fact about yourself. It is so wide-ranging as to indicate
a persistent attitude of recklessness towards honesty and accuracy.
Your behaviour undermines any confidence that you are a person who is likely to bring
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a responsible and careful approach to your official duties. It is inconsistent with the
attributes necessary for a person who holds office as a Justice of the Peace and a
Visiting Justice, for the reasons more fully outlined in my previous letter. I will not
repeat those reasons in full here. In my view, your behaviour amounts to misconduct,
in the sense of raising doubts about your integrity, honesty, and judgment to an extent
that undermines your fitness to hold office as a Justice of the Peace and a Visiting
Justice.
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1982
ACT
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