17 December 2025
Jay Rogers
[FYI request #32644 email]
Dear Jay
Official Information Request
Our Ref: OIA 2025-0137
I refer to your official information request received on 23 October 2025 for:
…the fol owing information relating to this campaign
1. Budget and Expenditure
- The total cost of the campaign, including but not limited too any payments to external
agencies, media platforms, or contractors.
- A full breakdown by channel (Facebook, Google, radio, print, etc.) and supplier.
- Copies of any invoices, purchase orders, or internal financial approvals related to this
campaign.
2. Internal Resources and Staffing
- The number of staff involved in developing, approving, and managing the campaign
(both FTEs and individuals).
- An estimate of the total staff time and cost spent on this work.
- Any role descriptions or delegation documents showing which officials had the
authority to commission and approve the campaign.
3. Decision-Making and Oversight
- Al internal communications (emails, Teams/Slack messages, meeting minutes, and
notes) discussing the purpose, framing, tone, or messaging of the campaign.
- Al documents identifying who initiated the campaign, who approved it, and any sign-
offs from senior leaders or Commissioners.
- Any correspondence between the PSC and Ministerial offices and MPs or other agencies
about the campaign.
- Any risk assessments, communications strategies, or briefing notes that discuss
reputational, ethical, or political risks — particularly those referring to perceptions of
bias, misuse of taxpayer funds, or damage to the Commissionʼs neutrality.
Level 10, Te Iho | 1 Lambton Quay | PO Box 329
Wellington 6140 | New Zealand
Phone +64 4 495 6600
4. Evaluation and Aftermath
- Any evaluation reports, internal reviews, or debriefs on the campaignʼs effectiveness,
public response, or criticism received. Including correspondence sent to ministerial
offices regarding these campaign after it went live.
This request seeks to understand how and why the Commission — an agency expected
to model neutrality and uphold trust in the public service — chose to deploy public
resources on a campaign that appears to undermine the lawful actions and rights of
public sector workers.
As you were advised on 20 November 2025, we extended your request to 17 December 2025
as your request necessitated a search through a large quantity of information and meeting
the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with our operations, and consultations
needed to make a decision on your request were such that a proper response could not
reasonably be made within the original time limit.
Information publicly available
The following information covered by your request is, and wil soon be, publicly available
on the Public Service Commission’s website at the link provided for in the table below.
Item Date
Document Description
Website Address
1
17 December 2025 OIA Response 2025-0130
OIA-2025-0130-Social-
Media-Advertisements-
campaigning-against-
strike-action.pdf
Accordingly, I have refused your request for the documents listed in the above table under
section 18(d) of the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) on the grounds the information
requested is or wil soon be publicly available.
Some relevant information has been removed from documents listed in the above table
and should continue to be withheld under the OIA, on the grounds described in the
documents.
I am refusing the part of your request for
"the number of staff involved in developing,
approving, and managing the campaign (both FTEs and individuals)” and
“ An estimate of the
total staff time and cost spent on this work” under section 18(e) of the OIA on the grounds
this information does not exist. The Commission does not have a central record of the
number of staff involved in developing, approving, and managing the campaign (both FTEs
and individuals), or an estimate of the total staff time and cost spent on this work.
I am also refusing part four of your request
“Any evaluation reports, internal reviews, or
debriefs on the campaignʼs effectiveness, public response, or criticism received. Including
correspondence sent to ministerial offices regarding these campaign after it went live” under
section 18(e) of the OIA on the grounds the information does not exist at the time of your
request. As publicly reported by the Office of the Auditor-General
(Decision to purchase
social media advertisements — Office of the Auditor-General New Zealand), the
Commission has recognised there might be lessons it could learn from the process it
fol owed. The Public Service Commissioner has decided to engage an external party to carry
out a review of this matter, and the Auditor-General has advised that he expects the review
to be comprehensive, robust, and transparent.
If you wish to discuss this decision with us, please feel free to contact
[email address]. You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision.
Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Please note that we intend to publish this letter (with your personal details removed) on
the Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission’s website.
Yours sincerely
Nicky Dirks
Manager – Ministerial and Executive Services
Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission
