A record of phone calls received from parents regarding Marae visits and Māori words in math classes
M J Steele made this Official Information request to David Seymour
The request was refused by David Seymour.
From: M J Steele
Dear David Seymour,
A social media post of yours on 4 November makes reference to exasperated parents calling regarding Marae visits and Māori words in math classes.
Could you please provide evidence of these calls. If there is no written account available, then the number of calls received since taking office will suffice.
Yours faithfully,
M J Steele
From: David Seymour (MIN)
David Seymour
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From: David Seymour (MIN)
David Seymour
Dear M J Steele
Thank you for your email in which you submitted an information request as
follows:
“A social media post of yours on 4 November makes reference to exasperated
parents calling regarding Marae visits and Māori words in math classes.
Could you please provide evidence of these calls. If there is no written
account available, then the number of calls received since taking office
will suffice.”
The social media post was as ACT Party Leader. The ACT Party, as a
political party funded by the Parliamentary Service, is not subject to the
Official Information Act, therefore your request is declined.
Kind regards
Office of Hon David Seymour
[1]A pink and Deputy Prime Minister
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with two women Minister for Regulation
holding flags Associate Minister of Education | Associate Minister
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generated Associate Minister of Health | Associate Minister of
Justice
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RE: DSOIA634
-----Original Message-----
From: M J Steele <[FOI #32720 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 4 November 2025 10:03 AM
To: David Seymour (MIN) <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - A record of phone calls received
from parents regarding Marae visits and Māori words in math classes
Dear David Seymour,
A social media post of yours on 4 November makes reference to exasperated
parents calling regarding Marae visits and Māori words in math classes.
Could you please provide evidence of these calls. If there is no written
account available, then the number of calls received since taking office
will suffice.
Yours faithfully,
M J Steele
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Oliver Mould left an annotation ()
Another relevant comment: https://bsky.app/profile/norightturnnz.b...
Past Ombudsmen have already set precedent: information is official by default. Ministers wanting to claim a different hat need to substantiate that claim, and show how the information never touches their ministerial role.
The question is whether the present Ombudsman will follow that precedent.
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence (note: this contains the same information already available above).
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Oliver Mould left an annotation ()
Summary of comments seen elsewhere on BlueSky: I don't think that response will stack up if this is brought to the ombudsman, as the OlA request relates to the phone calls not to the social media post. He made it on his official Facebook page, which is set up with his MP credentials. Thread here: https://bsky.app/profile/olimnz.bsky.soc...
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