Correspondence relating to school commitments to give effect to Te Tiriti
Andrew Geddis made this Official Information request to Erica Stanford
Currently waiting for a response from Erica Stanford, they must respond promptly and normally no later than (details and exceptions).
From: Andrew Geddis
Dear Erica Stanford,
You are quoted in a RNZ news story on 28 November 2025 (reference link below) as follows:
"However, [Minister Stanford] also said she had heard from principals who felt "very unfair" and "nasty" pressure to sign the statements. "Quite often they're signing up when in fact it wasn't something that they particularly wanted to do," she said."
I am requesting all correspondence that received by you or your office from principals and members of school boards relating to schools' decisions to reaffirm a commitment to giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi. If any correspondence was oral in nature, I request that you provide the date and time of such communications, as well as a summary of that correspondence. I consent to the names of any individuals and schools being witheld for privacy reasons.
Yours faithfully,
Andrew Geddis
Reference to news story: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korih...
From: Erica Stanford (MIN)
Erica Stanford
Thank you for contacting the Office of Hon Erica Stanford, Minister of
Education, Minister of Immigration, Lead Coordination Minister for the
Government's Response to the Royal Commission's Report into Historical
Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions, and
Member of Parliament for East Coast Bays.
We appreciate you reaching out – the Minister considers all correspondence
to be important, and all messages are carefully read and considered.
Please do note it is not always possible to provide a personal response to
every email received. Personal views, feedback and suggestions are
gratefully received and will be passed on to the Minister and/or relevant
Agencies.
Please note the following to help us direct your correspondence:
* If you are seeking ministerial intervention for an immigration case,
please contact Associate Minister of Immigration, Hon Chris Penk, at
[email address] Minister Stanford is unable to comment on
individual cases.
* Emails relating to education matters that are operational in
nature will be transferred to the Ministry of Education (or other
agency). Minister Stanford is unable to comment on individual cases.
You can contact the Ministry directly at:
[email address]
* For assistance related to historical abuse in state care, please
contact the Survivor Experiences Team at
[email address].
* If you have invited Minister Stanford to an event, or requested a
meeting, a member of staff may contact you for more information.
* Official Information or Privacy Act requests will be managed under the
relevant Acts, which may include transfer to another Agency.
* If you are a journalist, your request will be referred to the Press
Secretary.
* If you are a constituent of East Coast Bays, your email will be shared
with the Electorate Office.
Thank you again for writing to Minister Stanford.
Kind regards,
Office of Hon Erica Stanford
Reception: +64 4 817 6805 | Ministerial Email:
[1][Erica Stanford request email] |
Web: beehive.govt.nz | Post: Freepost Parliament, Private Bag 18 041,
Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
References
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1. mailto:[Erica Stanford request email]
From: Erica Stanford (MIN)
Erica Stanford
OIA ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Dear Andrew,
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) request,
received on 28/11/2025, in which you requested the following information:
You are quoted in a RNZ news story on 28 November 2025 (reference link
below) as follows:
"However, [Minister Stanford] also said she had heard from principals who
felt "very unfair" and "nasty" pressure to sign the statements. "Quite
often they're signing up when in fact it wasn't something that they
particularly wanted to do," she said."
I am requesting all correspondence that received by you or your office
from principals and members of school boards relating to schools'
decisions to reaffirm a commitment to giving effect to Te Tiriti o
Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi. If any correspondence was oral in nature,
I request that you provide the date and time of such communications, as
well as a summary of that correspondence. I consent to the names of any
individuals and schools being witheld for privacy reasons.
Yours faithfully,
Andrew Geddis
Reference to news story:
[1]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www....
Your request will be answered within the provisions of the Official
Information Act.
Kind regards,
Office of Hon Erica Stanford
Office of Hon Erica Stanford
MP for East Coast Bays
Minister of Education
Minister of Immigration
Lead Coordination Minister for the Government’s Response to the Royal
Commission’s Report into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care
of Faith-based Institutions
Website: [2]www.Beehive,govt.nz
Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
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.
show quoted sections
From: Erica Stanford (MIN)
Erica Stanford
Dear Andrew,
I refer to your official information request dated 28 November for “all
correspondence that received by you or your office from principals and
members of school boards relating to schools' decisions to reaffirm a
commitment to giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of
Waitangi.”
As a search for the terms “principal” and “school board member” are
unlikely to return the information requested, and the terms “reaffirm” and
“commitment” may not return all the information requested, I have
conducted a preliminary search of my ministerial inbox with the search
terms “Te Tiriti” and “The Treaty” which has returned over 400 emails
between 15 October and 28 November. To evaluate whether these emails are
in scope of your request, I would need to go through each email to check
manually. This would impose a significant administrative burden, and
therefore your request is likely to be refused under section 18(f) of the
Act. Can you please consider refining your request, perhaps to include a
specific set of search terms that may help bring the number of email
returns down to a manageable amount, that I may be able to return the
information requested.
It appears likely that your original request will need to be clarified or
amended to enable us to respond. Please note, any clarification or
amendment of a request is considered to be a new request for the purpose
of calculating the maximum statutory timeframe for response—see section
15(1AA) of the Official Information Act.
Office of Hon Erica Stanford
MP for East Coast Bays
Minister of Education
Minister of Immigration
Lead Coordination Minister for the Government’s Response to the Royal
Commission’s Report into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care
of Faith-based Institutions
Website: [1]www.Beehive,govt.nz
Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
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.
From: Erica Stanford (MIN) <[email address]>
Sent: Friday, 28 November 2025 9:10 am
To: Andrew Geddis <[FYI request #33025 email]>
Cc: Erica Stanford (MIN) <[email address]>
Subject: RE: ESOIA810 | Official Information request - Correspondence
relating to school commitments to give effect to Te Tiriti
OIA ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Dear Andrew,
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) request,
received on 28/11/2025, in which you requested the following information:
You are quoted in a RNZ news story on 28 November 2025 (reference link
below) as follows:
"However, [Minister Stanford] also said she had heard from principals who
felt "very unfair" and "nasty" pressure to sign the statements. "Quite
often they're signing up when in fact it wasn't something that they
particularly wanted to do," she said."
I am requesting all correspondence that received by you or your office
from principals and members of school boards relating to schools'
decisions to reaffirm a commitment to giving effect to Te Tiriti o
Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi. If any correspondence was oral in nature,
I request that you provide the date and time of such communications, as
well as a summary of that correspondence. I consent to the names of any
individuals and schools being witheld for privacy reasons.
Yours faithfully,
Andrew Geddis
Reference to news story:
[2]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www....
Your request will be answered within the provisions of the Official
Information Act.
Kind regards,
Office of Hon Erica Stanford
Office of Hon Erica Stanford
MP for East Coast Bays
Minister of Education
Minister of Immigration
Lead Coordination Minister for the Government’s Response to the Royal
Commission’s Report into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care
of Faith-based Institutions
Website: [3]www.Beehive,govt.nz
Private Bag 18041, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6160, New Zealand
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.
show quoted sections
From: Andrew Geddis
Dear Erica Stanford (MIN),
I wish to clarify my request to encompass all written correspondence received from school principals or school boards between15 October and 28 November that references:
- either of the terms "the Treaty" or "te Tiriti"; and,
- any of the terms "want", "pressure", "unfair", "nasty" or "union".
I accept that the names of any individuals or schools may be redacted in order to preserve the author's privacy interests.
My request also encompasses any specific oral communications that the Minister may have had with school principals or members of a school board between15 October and 28 November that formed the basis for her assertion in the referenced news article that "she had heard from principals who felt "very unfair" and "nasty" pressure to sign the statements. "Quite often they're signing up when in fact it wasn't something that they particularly wanted to do." In respect of any such oral communications, I request the day and approximate time they took place as well as a summary of the information contained in that aspect of the communication.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Geddis
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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