Tēnā koe Aaron Goodwin-O'Neill

Thank you for your email received 27 October 2015, under the Official Information Act 1982. Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate officials at National office to respond. You may expect a response to be sent to you as soon as possible.

Nāku noa, na

Official and Parliamentary Information team | Ministerial and Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development

Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to help themselves to be safe, strong and independent
Ko ta mātou he whakamana tangata kia tū haumaru, kia tū kaha, kia tū motuhake

-----Original Message-----
From: Aaron Goodwin-O'Neill [mailto:[FOI #3282 email]]
Sent: Sunday, 25 October 2015 12:22 p.m.
To: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Subject: Official Information Act request - MSD aiding clients in obtaining cosmetic surgeries for non-medical reasons

To the Ministry of Social Development,

It was recently bought to my attention that a woman of my acquaintance was given funding through the help of the Ministry of Social Development for cosmetic breast surgery (enlargement). This was granted in either 2008 or 2009, I can't recall exactly. I was very concerned on learning this, given that the woman I refer to states that the surgery was purely for appearance/cosmetic purposes, rather than for treating any medical issue. What makes me most concerned, if the claims made are true, is that I am personally among many New Zealanders who have been turned down for funding from the New Zealand Government for surgical treatment of genuine medical conditions, (Jaw development problems in my own case), that have occurred naturally and were/are beyond our ability to control.

Under the Official Information Act, I request that the Ministry reveal the total number of past or present clients who have received MSD assistance in acquiring cosmetic surgical treatments within the past 10 years.

I am not requesting the names, or personal or identifying information of any past or present clients, I am simply asking for the numbers, and, as a taxpaying citizen, believe I should be entitled to know where Government money is being allocated. I would also like to know how many cosmetic surgeries were funded in each of the past 10 years specifically, and also gender specific numbers.

I am hoping, for the sake of New Zealanders needing assistance for genuine medical reasons, that these claims are either false or exaggerated.

Yours faithfully,

Aaron Goodwin-O'Neill

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This is an OIA request done via the FYI website.

Please do not send progress updates as PDF files.

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an OIA officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA page.

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This email and any attachments may contain information that is confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, dissemination, distribution or duplication of this email and attachments is prohibited. If you have received this email in error please notify the author immediately and erase all copies of the email and attachments. The Ministry of Social Development accepts no responsibility for changes made to this message or attachments after transmission from the Ministry.

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Tēnā koe Aaron Goodwin-O'Neill,

Please find attached the Minstry’s response to your Official Information Act 1982 request of 25 October 2015.

Nāku noa, na

Official and Parliamentary Information team | Ministerial and Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development

Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to help themselves to be safe, strong and independent
Ko ta mātou he whakamana tangata kia tū haumaru, kia tū kaha, kia tū motuhake

-----Original Message-----
From: Aaron Goodwin-O'Neill [mailto:[FOI #3282 email]]
Sent: Sunday, 25 October 2015 12:22 p.m.
To: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Subject: Official Information Act request - MSD aiding clients in obtaining cosmetic surgeries for non-medical reasons

To the Ministry of Social Development,

It was recently bought to my attention that a woman of my acquaintance was given funding through the help of the Ministry of Social Development for cosmetic breast surgery (enlargement). This was granted in either 2008 or 2009, I can't recall exactly. I was very concerned on learning this, given that the woman I refer to states that the surgery was purely for appearance/cosmetic purposes, rather than for treating any medical issue. What makes me most concerned, if the claims made are true, is that I am personally among many New Zealanders who have been turned down for funding from the New Zealand Government for surgical treatment of genuine medical conditions, (Jaw development problems in my own case), that have occurred naturally and were/are beyond our ability to control.

Under the Official Information Act, I request that the Ministry reveal the total number of past or present clients who have received MSD assistance in acquiring cosmetic surgical treatments within the past 10 years.

I am not requesting the names, or personal or identifying information of any past or present clients, I am simply asking for the numbers, and, as a taxpaying citizen, believe I should be entitled to know where Government money is being allocated. I would also like to know how many cosmetic surgeries were funded in each of the past 10 years specifically, and also gender specific numbers.

I am hoping, for the sake of New Zealanders needing assistance for genuine medical reasons, that these claims are either false or exaggerated.

Yours faithfully,

Aaron Goodwin-O'Neill

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This is an OIA request done via the FYI website.

Please do not send progress updates as PDF files.

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an OIA officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------
This email and any attachments may contain information that is confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, dissemination, distribution or duplication of this email and attachments is prohibited. If you have received this email in error please notify the author immediately and erase all copies of the email and attachments. The Ministry of Social Development accepts no responsibility for changes made to this message or attachments after transmission from the Ministry.

-------------------------------

hide quoted sections