OC251062 V Tempsky OIA CE Response letter Part3.pdf

Document 22
Harry Atkins
From:
Ben Whitehouse <[email address]>
Sent:
Friday, 31 January 2025 10:59 am
To:
Natalie Howel
Cc:
Tina Jamieson; Eleonora Sparagna
Subject:
RE: Feedback for NAPS + Update on chat with MBIE
Kia ora Natalie,
Do you think we can just make a minor change to the wording in the comment attached to the MoE action please?
(changes in red)
This is a placeholder action for now. Ministry of Education will conﬁrm the action after brieﬁng their
Minister.  Actions will be subject to change based on Ministerial direction.
Thanks for the link to Australia’s white paper, very interesting read

Ngā mihi
ACT 1982
Ben Whitehouse (he/him/ia) | Policy Analyst
Te Pou Kaupapahere | Policy
DDI s 9(2)(a)

National Office 1 The Terrace
education.govt.nz
He mea tārai e mātou te mātauranga kia rangatira ai, kia mana taurite ai ōna huanga
We shape an education system that delivers equitable and excellent outcomes
INFORMATION
RELEASED UNDER THE
From: Natalie Howell <[email address]>
Sent: Friday, 31 January 2025 9:08 am
To: Ben Whitehouse <[email address]>
Cc: Tina Jamieson <[email address]>; Eleonora Sparagna <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Feedback for NAPS + Update on chat with MBIE
Thank you for this Ben!
OFFICIAL
I’ve removed some of your notes so that the text is ready to be shared with the working group and others.
I’ve attached it so you can see what I’ve done – let me know if I need to change anything.
You might be interested to see what the Australians are doing about aviation skills shortages. Chapter 5
of their very thorough “Aviation White Paper” covers workforce issues. You can access the report here:
1

https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/department/media/publications/aviation-white-paper-towards-
2050#regenerating
Thanks and let’s stay in touch.
Natalie
From: Ben Whitehouse <[email address]>
Sent: Tuesday, 28 January 2025 3:25 pm
To: Natalie Howell <[email address]>
Cc: Tina Jamieson <[email address]>; Eleonora Sparagna <[email address]>
Subject: Feedback for NAPS + Update on chat with MBIE
Kia ora Natalie,
I’ve just got the wording for the Ministry of Education’s part in the NAPS attached.
I think the key is that we’ve got to be clear that any actions for the time being will be subject to change once we’ve
been given some more Ministerial direction, and for the Ministry to have a substantive role outside of the areas
we’d potentially be the lead agency for we’d need to ask our Ministers.  Of course, we understand that this is the
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ﬁrst iteration of something that you’ll be looking to publish mid-way through the year, so we’ll have the opportunity
to add more detail as work progresses.
Just to update you on the meeting we had with Kānoa – they’re very early in the policy process and just weighing up
their options. I gave them your contact details, along with Leo Shen’s and Simon Wallace’s if they’d like to pursue
anything further – I mentioned that the IAC would be a great place to start if they’d like to talk to the sector too

Hopefully something good might come out of it.
I’m absolutely happy to jump on a call if you need anything else!
Ngā mihi
Ben Whitehouse (he/him/ia) | Policy Analyst
Te Pou Kaupapahere | Policy
INFORMATION
DDI s 9(2)(a)

National Office 1 The TerraceRELEASED UNDER THE
education.govt.nz
He mea tārai e mātou te mātauranga kia rangatira ai, kia mana taurite ai ōna huanga
We shape an education system that delivers equitable and excellent outcomes
OFFICIAL
2

Extract from draft NAPS
Ambition Statement
The Council’s vision for aviation is:
•
New Zealand’s aviation sector grows, innovates, and contributes to a more
productive, connected and resilient country.
•
Safety and security are continuously improved, while New Zealanders and visitors
enjoy accessible and efficient services.
•
Economic opportunities and resilience are supported by strong international and
regional air connectivity, that integrates with other forms of transport.
•
Aviation provides attractive, highly skilled jobs and is a preferred career path.
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•
Our world-class aviation regulatory environment is robust, internationally
credible, and allows businesses and New Zealanders to thrive.
•
Māori see exciting opportunities in the aviation sector, because Te Ao Māori values
are embedded in the sector.
•
The aviation system nurtures and embraces emerging technologies that can safely
drive productivity, attract investment, and benefit New Zealand and New Zealanders.
•
All involved in the system work to reduce use of fossil fuels and promote a transition
to clean energy, in line with New Zealand’s target of net zero carbon emissions by
2050.
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Workforce
Commercial airline growth and the COVID pandemic’s impacts on the aviation sector have
created a demand for pilots and engineering staff. If we do not act to improve recruitment
and retention, we face worsening shortages of key personnel.
New Zealand also hosts a growing aerospace and emerging aviation technology sector that
may create opportunities for innovation in aviation education, as well as requiring new
training needs.
More?
Commented [NH1]: Any more background that’s
essential? (Bearing in mind we need to keep it short)
The training pipeline for the aviation workforce is influenced by many factors including:
 tertiary education policy settings (including student loan policies)
 CAA training and licensing rules
 an increasingly tight global market for labour and skills
 changes in the industry – for example, fewer businesses now operate small planes
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suitable for new pilots looking to build experience
 technological changes, leading to changes in the types of skills that the industry of
the future will need.
 Other key things?
Commented [NH2]: Ben, Simon W (in his paper to the
Council on workforce) proposed an action about a
xxx…etc….
policy workstream. Any action involving policy and leg
change is best written by MinEdu, but here is his
Under this objective, the sector and Government will:
wording just for your info:
Lead
Action
Consideration be given to a workstream that
looks at what policy (inc. funding), regulatory and
Continue to engage with the sector to understand and work towards resolving
legislative changes are needed to:
issues related to training in the aviation sector and how they contribute to
address training (inc. instructor training)
shortages, support recruitment and retention;
workforce challenges in civil aviation.
embed safety and security culture in an
Ministry of
institutional sense, across every participant’s
Education  [this is a placeholder for now - more specific actions to come after the Ministry
habits, practices, and interactions;
maximise the ability of personnel to transition
of Education has had an opportunity to brief their Minister, actions will be
between aviation careers.
subject to change based on Ministerial direction]
Commented [BW3R2]: I think once we’ve gotten a bit
INFORMATION more Ministerial direction, it might be clearer who will
xxx
lead some of these policy changes.
Set up an ongoing permanent Aviation Workforce Working Group to:
RELEASED UNDER THE
While we have the levers for things that pertain to flight
 review and streamline training pipelines for civil and military aviation,
schools themselves, we might not necessarily have the
levers to implement training models that are prevalent
maximise the ability of personnel to transition between aviation careers
outside of NZ (e.g. something like British Airways’
(including military/civilian), improve professional development and
cadetship programme might be functional due to UK
sabbatical opportunities, promote aviation as a future career, and publish
aviation licencing rules/regs being different to ours
rather than the specific tertiary leg/funding levers being
best practice guidelines on embedding relevant incentives and a positive
the issue.)
safety and security culture in aviation workplaces
Commented [NH4]: Ben, this is from Simon W’s paper
on Workforce that he submitted to the Council. What do
you think?
Commented [BW5R4]:
OFFICIAL
These are great but we’l  need
to be pretty clear who’s responsible for them/the lead.
MOE would need to ask for Ministerial direction/have
this across our Minister’s desk before we agree to
anything on our end.

Establish a national strategic aviation workforce plan to:
 address current and future workforce shortages, scope opportunities for
Thexxx
promoting aviation careers, and research the work preferences of young
people in aviation and incentives that could support their retention in the
sector.
Commented [NH6]: Also from Simon W’s workforce
paper.
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INFORMATION
RELEASED UNDER THE
OFFICIAL

Document 23
From:
Tejas Menon
To:
Natalie Howell ; Ben Whitehouse
Cc:
Eleonora Sparagna; Carolina Durrant
Subject:
RE: Workforce extract for MinEdu 20 March.docx
Date:
Tuesday, 25 March 2025 3:07:05 pm
Kia ora Natalie,
We have no immediate adverse reactions to any of these suggestions from TPK.
However, we would like to see the final wording you come up with and just ensure clarity
around who is ultimately accountable for actioning the below points.
Ngā mihi,
Tejas
Tejas Menon (he/him)| Graduate Policy Analyst – Teriary Skills Quality and Governance
Te Pou Kaupapahere | Policy
s 9(2)(a)
National Office 1 The Terrace
From: Natalie Howell <[email address]>
ACT 1982
Sent: Thursday, 20 March 2025 4:06 pm
To: Tejas Menon <[email address]>; Ben Whitehouse
<[email address]>
Cc: Eleonora Sparagna <[email address]>; Carolina Durrant
<[email address]>
Subject: RE: Workforce extract for MinEdu 20 March.docx
Thank you Tejas!
I will make those changes before the document is sent out to Council members.
We have just received some comments from TPK, including some feedback on the
INFORMATION
workforce section. Let me know if you have an allergic reaction to any of this, otherwise
RELEASED UNDER THE
I’ll start working on incorporating this feedback. I will send my edits through to you once
I’m done (recognising that you may not have time this week to engage with it fully).
TPK’s suggestions included:
Referring to Ringa Hora’s report on their Kaupapa Māori aviation hui
Noting the changing workforce of NZ, including Māori workforce projections
OFFICIAL
(including that the Māori population is growing faster than the rest of the NZ
population and is structurally younger – so will make up a higher proportion of the
future Māori workforce)
Adding into the ambition a clear focus on increasing the Māori workforce
participation in the sector
Including more detail on retention rates (drawn from Ringa Hora’s report)
When noting the need to promote aviation as a future career, including a specific
focus on attracting Māori and Pasifika.

They also noted that Ringa Hora have already developed an aviation and airport services
workforce action plan (2024) and this should be taken account of in the actions.
Thanks again
Natalie
From: Tejas Menon <[email address]>
Sent: Thursday, 20 March 2025 3:53 pm
To: Natalie Howell <[email address]>; Ben Whitehouse
<[email address]>
Cc: Eleonora Sparagna <[email address]>; Carolina Durrant
<[email address]>
Subject: RE: Workforce extract for MinEdu 20 March.docx
Kia ora Natalie,
ACT 1982
Apologies for the delay in responding. We do recommend two changes.
The first is the wording on page 8 to:
Ministry of Education
The Ministry of Education provides strategic policy advice for the education sector, including
tertiary education provision that contributes to the skills, knowledge, and capabilities needed
to fully participate in the labour market, society, and communities.
The second change is to the wording on page 11 to:
Continue to understand and work towards resolving issues related to
Ministry of
INFORMATION
training in the aviation sector and how they contribute to workforce
Education
challenges in civil aviation.
RELEASED UNDER THE
Ngā mihi,
Tejas
Tejas Menon (he/him)| Graduate Policy Analyst – Teriary Skills Quality and Governance
Te Pou Kaupapahere | Policy
s 9(2)(a)
National Office 1 The Terrace
OFFICIAL
From: Natalie Howell <[email address]>
Sent: Thursday, 20 March 2025 11:02 am
To: Tejas Menon <[email address]>; Ben Whitehouse
<[email address]>
Cc: Eleonora Sparagna <[email address]>; Carolina Durrant
<[email address]>
Subject: Workforce extract for MinEdu 20 March.docx

Dear Education colleagues
Hope your busy week is going ok.
Here is where I have got to with the Workforce section of the Vision. (I’m removed most
of the other sections.) I’m sending this to you so that you have the opportunity to do a
quick check before the doc is circulated to the Council for feedback. I have included
stakeholders’ comments, which I will tidy up before the document is circulated.
If there are any showstoppers for you in here, can you let me know by 2.30pm
today?
If this is not possible given your current workload, I will note that the section awaits
Ministry of Education review.
I would like to discuss with you the suggestion that we include a Ringa Hora action. I
recognise you are probably too busy for that this week, so let’s meet up when you have
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more time.
Thanks
Natalie
MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT
Wellington (Head Office) | Ground Floor, 3 Queens Wharf | PO Box 3175 | Wellington 6011 | NEW
ZEALAND | Tel: +64 4 439 9000 |
Auckland | NZ Government Auckland Policy Office |Level 7, 167B Victoria Street West | PO Box 106238
| Auckland City | Auckland 1143 | NEW ZEALAND | Tel: +64 4 439 9000 |
INFORMATION
Disclaimer: This email is only intended to be read by the named recipient. It may contain information
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which is confidential, proprietary or the subject of legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient you
must delete this email and may not use any information contained in it. Legal privilege is not waived
because you have read this email.
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
OFFICIAL
DISCLAIMER:
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 Education
accepts no responsibility for changes made to this message or attachments after transmission from the Ministry.
DISCLAIMER:
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 Education
accepts no responsibility for changes made to this message or attachments after transmission from the Ministry.

Document 24
From:
Tejas Menon
To:
Natalie Howell; Ben Whitehouse ; Eleonora Sparagna
Subject:
RE: Question about Action to include in the Vision for Aviation to 2035
Date:
Friday, 11 April 2025 11:39:44 am
Attachments:
image001.png
Kia ora Natalie,
Thanks for your patience!
We are happy with the text highlighted in yellow.
As for the text in the table can we please change it to the following: “Continue policy work around issues
related to training in the aviation sector and how they contribute to workforce challenges in civil aviation.”
We are unable to confirm a timeframe without Ministerial agreement so this wording suits us better.
Ngā mihi,
Tejas
Tejas Menon (he/him)| Graduate Policy Analyst – Teriary Skills Quality and Governance
Te Pou Kaupapahere | Policy
s 9(2)(a)
ACT 1982
National Office 1 The Terrace
From: Natalie Howell <[email address]>
Sent: Thursday, 10 April 2025 3:21 pm
To: Tejas Menon <[email address]>; Ben Whitehouse
<[email address]>; Eleonora Sparagna <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Question about Action to include in the Vision for Aviation to 2035
Hi folks, hope you’re having a nice afternoon. Just checking if this additional action for Ringa Hora
raises any issues for you? I intend to steer clear of any mention of student loan implications - so I hope
that means it is ok?
In addition, do you have any other comments on the document?
INFORMATION
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Here’s what I propose to include about the Ringa Hora action in the Vision.
First set of actions towards our ambition
· Setting up an Aviation Workforce Working Group will help us achieve our ambition by
promoting cross-sector collaboration and coordination on aviation workforce
challenges, informed by understanding of all parts of the aviation workforce pipeline.
OFFICIAL
· Ringa Hora’s updates to the pilot qualification will improve the relevance of the
qualification for airlines, so that pilots develop the competencies the sector needs.
Initial steps for the sector and Government to achieve the Council’s ambition include:
Lead
Initial Action
Continue to understand and work towards resolving issues related to training in
Ministry of
the aviation sector and how they contribute to workforce challenges in civil
Education
aviation. [Ministry of Education – should we leave this in? If it is staying in, it
probably needs a timeframe attached.]

Updates to the pilot qualification and associated settings, in consultation with
Ringa Hora
airlines, by the end of 2025.
Set up an Aviation Workforce Working Group to:
build on the existing Aviation and Airport Services Workforce Action Plan
review and streamline training pipelines for civil and military aviation
maximise the ability of personnel to transition between aviation careers
(including military/civilian)
improve professional development and sabbatical opportunities
Aviation
promote aviation as a future career
Council
grow Māori and Pasifika participation in the aviation workforce
facilitate sector engagement, including discussions between airlines of
different sizes on pilot and ground engineer recruitment and training
pathways
publish best practice guidelines on embedding relevant incentives and a
positive safety and security culture in aviation workplaces.
Thanks all
Natalie
ACT 1982
From: Natalie Howell
Sent: Tuesday, 8 April 2025 11:30 am
To: Tejas Menon <[email address]>; Ben Whitehouse (Education)
<[email address]>; Eleonora Sparagna <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Question about Action to include in the Vision for Aviation to 2035
Hi Tejas, Ben and Eleonora
I’ve spoken to Leo about this Ringa Hora work on the phone this morning, and propose to include in the
Vision doc an action about updating the pilot qualification so it better aligns with employers’ needs.
Leo says this is underway and that it is pretty straightforward.
INFORMATION
Leo mentioned that airlines also want to shorten the duration of pilot training (by making the
RELEASED UNDER THE
programme more intensive), and this could have implications for student loan settings. I propose not
to mention this possible change.
Does this sound ok from your point of view? Happy to discuss on the phone.
Thanks OFFICIAL
Natalie
Released in Document 18

Document 25
Harry Atkins
From:
Eleonora Sparagna <[email address]>
Sent:
Monday, 23 June 2025 5:11 pm
To:
Tom Forster; Natalie Howel
Cc:
Tejas Menon; Ben Whitehouse
Subject:
RE: Ringa Hora Meeting
Kia Ora
We should not – things could change and we have multiple Education Ministers with an interest in this area, so we
need to be mindful of those relationships and connections.
Also if we add a note about advice we create the need for us and our Minister/s to manage industry and providers
expectations when the advice has not yet been drafted.
Kindly do not add any further content to what is there now.
Ta
E
Eleonora Sparagna | Senior Policy Manager
ACT 1982
Te Pou Kaupapahere | Policy
s 9(2)(a)
From: Tom Forster <[email address]>
Sent: Monday, 23 June 2025 2:19 pm
To: Eleonora Sparagna <[email address]>; Natalie Howell <[email address]>
Cc: Tejas Menon <[email address]>; Ben Whitehouse <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Ringa Hora Meeting
Hi Eleonora
INFORMATION
Thanks for your response. I think what Natalie was trying to convey is rather than being speciﬁc on what we are
doing, is putting the action as initial advice to the Minister by the end of the year.
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So the Action is the Initial advice, which is up to your discretion to decide what to include. Would that work?
Cheers
Tom
From: Eleonora Sparagna <[email address]>
Sent: Monday, 23 June 2025 2:17 pm
OFFICIAL
To: Natalie Howell <[email address]>
Cc: Tom Forster <[email address]>; Tejas Menon <[email address]>; Ben Whitehouse
<[email address]>
Subject: RE: Ringa Hora Meeting
Thank you Natalie
It’ always useful to hear about other Minister’s views in this area.
1

Actions can only take place after Ministerial decisions – and those are subject to the advice and options
presented.
So we are not able to add any more speciﬁcity to the below.
Nga mihi
E
Eleonora Sparagna | Senior Policy Manager
Te Pou Kaupapahere | Policy
s 9(2)(a)
From: Natalie Howell <[email address]>
Sent: Monday, 23 June 2025 1:30 pm
To: Eleonora Sparagna <[email address]>
Cc: Tom Forster <[email address]>; Tejas Menon <[email address]>; Ben Whitehouse
<[email address]>
Subject: RE: Ringa Hora Meeting
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Hi all, just following up on this – see below.
Our Minister does not want to see any actions that are “ongoing”, so we are trying hard to put dates on
every action. What would you be comfortable with?
Cheers
Natalie
From: Natalie Howell
Sent: Thursday, 19 June 2025 11:00 am
To: Eleonora Sparagna <[email address]>
Cc: Tom Forster <[email address]>; Tejas Menon <[email address]>; Ben Whitehouse
(Education) <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Ringa Hora Meeting
INFORMATION
Hi again Eleonora
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Not sure if you are still here – perhaps you have left for Milan already?
Just checking whether it would be possible to add a little more speciﬁcity into the Vision, now that you
have been directed by Minister Reti to work on this topic.
OFFICIAL
This is what we have now:
Continue policy work around issues related to training in the aviation
Ministry of
sector and how they contribute to workforce challenges in civil aviation –
Education
ongoing.
Could we say instead:
2

Continue policy work around issues related to training in the aviation
Ministry of
sector and how they contribute to workforce challenges in civil aviation –
Education
initial advice to Ministers by end 2025.
????
Thanks
Natalie
Out of Scope
ACT 1982
s 9(2)(a)
INFORMATION
RELEASED UNDER THE
OFFICIAL
3

Document 26
Harry Atkins
From:
Eleonora Sparagna <[email address]>
Sent:
Friday, 29 August 2025 4:06 pm
To:
Natalie Howell; Lisa Sengelow
Cc:
Carolina Durrant; Tom Forster
Subject:
RE: Minister's feedback on Aviation Action Plan
[SENSITIVE - RELEASE EXTERNAL]
Thank you Natalie
It would be ok to have this instead:
Provide advice to Ministers on issues related to training in the aviation sector and how they contribute to
workforce challenges in civil aviation and how policy changes may address these issues
You are right the timing should not be there and also is good to remove the reference to options, as that
is not yet agreed and would not reﬂect what our Ministers have directed us to do at this stage.
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We are working on options, and have been for some time, but we have not moved o icially to the next
steps.
Ta
E
Eleonora Sparagna | Senior Policy Manager
Tertiary Skills, Quality, Governance Policy
Te Pou Kaupapahere | Policy
s 9(2)(a)
National Office Mātauranga House
INFORMATION
education.govt.nz
RELEASED UNDER THE
He mea tārai e mātou te mātauranga kia rangatira ai, kia mana taurite ai ōna huanga
We shape an education system that delivers equitable and excellent outcomes
From: Natalie Howell <[email address]>
Sent: Friday, 29 August 2025 3:28 pm
OFFICIAL
To: Lisa Sengelow <[email address]>; Eleonora Sparagna <[email address]>
Cc: Carolina Durrant <[email address]>; Tom Forster <[email address]>
Subject: Minister's feedback on Aviation Action Plan
Hi Lisa and Eleonora
1

The Minister’s o ice has given us some feedback on the latest version of the Aviation Action Plan. This
includes some edits to the Ministry of Education action (!). Can you let me know early next week how you
would like to respond to this please?
Here are the changes the o ice has requested:
Lead
Initial Action
Ministry of
Continue policy work around Provide advice to Ministers on issues
Education
related to training in the aviation sector and how they contribute to
workforce challenges in civil aviation – ongoing. and develop options for
policy changes that address these issues by the end of 2025.
I understand that Lisa’s paper will involve advice on options for policy changes to address issues in the
aviation sector – so that part is right – but you may not be OK with this going into document that is going
to be made public.
Could you please let me know if you are OK with these changes - or if there is some alternative wording
that you would like instead?
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Alternatively, I can go back to the o ice and suggest that they discuss the requested changes with the
o ices of Ministers Reti and Simmonds, since they are the Ministers who are responsible for the Ministry
of Education’s work.
Let me know your thoughts.
thanks
Natalie Howell (she/her)
Kaitohutohu Matua - Whakaritenga Ohaoha | Senior Adviser – Aviation
Te Manatū Waka Ministry of Transport
M: s 9(2)(a)
    E: [email address]  | transport.govt.nz
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I work full days on Monday, Thursday and Friday, and 9am-1pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
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MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT
Wellington (Head Office) | Ground Floor, 3 Queens Wharf | PO Box 3175 | Wellington 6011 | NEW ZEALAND | Tel: +64
4 439 9000 |
Auckland | NZ Government Auckland Policy Office |Level 7, 167B Victoria Street West | PO Box 106238 | Auckland City |
Auckland 1143 | NEW ZEALAND | Tel: +64 4 439 9000 |
2