Benefits Review Committee 2025
john luke made this Official Information request to Ministry of Social Development
Response to this request is delayed. By law, Ministry of Social Development should normally have responded promptly and by (details and exceptions)
From: john luke
Dear Ministry of Social Development,
I noted-Benefits Review Committee
https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-ou...
May I kindly request the current list of members of the Benefits Review Committee as at 18 December 2025, for the following areas:
Auckland
Bay of Plenty
Canterbury
Central
East Coast
Nelson
Northland
Southern
Taranaki
Waikato
Wellington
For each member, could you please provide:
Full name
Date of appointment
Current expiry date of appointment
A brief biography, if available
Additionally, I note the statement that “nominations are welcome at any time so that a pool of community representatives is available.”
Could you please advise:
How many nominations are currently held in the nomination pool; and
The dates on which those nominations were lodged with your office.
Yours faithfully,
john luke
From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
IN-CONFIDENCE
Tçnâ koe John Luke,
Thank you for your email received 18 December 2025, under the Official Information Act 1982. Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate officials at National Office to respond.
The information you have requested may contain the names and contact details of our staff. Please let us know by 24 December 2025 whether you require these names and contact details. We will need to consult our staff before deciding whether we can release this information, and this will take a bit more time. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that you do not require staff names and contact details.
Please note that over the holiday period, there are three weeks that are not classified as working days. In accordance with Section 2 of the Official Information Act 1982, this period is 25 December 2025 to 15 January 2026 (inclusive). As such, OIA requests received on or after 27 November 2025 may take longer than you might expect. For more information on the latest date you can expect a response, please find the OIA Calculator on the Ombudsman website here: http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/agenc....
Ngâ manaakitanga,
Official Information Team | Ministerial and Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development
Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to be safe, strong and independent
Ko ta mâtou he whakamana tangata kia tû haumaru, kia tû kaha, kia tû motuhake
show quoted sections
From: john luke
Dear OIA_Requests (MSD),
Yes I would need the each member's full name, as detailed in my request
Auckland
Bay of Plenty
Canterbury
Central
East Coast
Nelson
Northland
Southern
Taranaki
Waikato
Wellington
Yours sincerely,
john luke
From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
IN-CONFIDENCE
Kia ora John Luke,
I am writing to you regarding your request for information below. This
letter is to advise you that the Ministry requires more time to respond to
this request. In accordance with section 15(1) and 15A of the Official
Information Act, the Ministry’s decision will be with you no later than 13
March 2026.
Dear Ministry of Social Development,
I noted-Benefits Review Committee
[1]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
May I kindly request the current list of members of the Benefits Review
Committee as at 18 December 2025, for the following areas:
Auckland
Bay of Plenty
Canterbury
Central
East Coast
Nelson
Northland
Southern
Taranaki
Waikato
Wellington
For each member, could you please provide:
Full name
Date of appointment
Current expiry date of appointment
A brief biography, if available
Additionally, I note the statement that “nominations are welcome at any
time so that a pool of community representatives is available.”
Could you please advise:
How many nominations are currently held in the nomination pool; and
The dates on which those nominations were lodged with your office.
Yours faithfully,
john luke
The reason for the extension is that consultations necessary to make a
decision on the request are such that a proper response to the request
cannot reasonably be made within the original time limit.
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
[2]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or 0800 802 602.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request with us, including this
decision, please feel free to contact [3][MSD request email]
I will respond to you sooner if I am able to.
Ngâ mihi,
Official Information Team | Ministerial and Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development
Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to be safe, strong and independent
Manaaki Tangata, Manaaki Whânau
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.
References
Visible links
1. https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-ou...
2. http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
3. mailto:[MSD request email]
From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
IN-CONFIDENCE
Kia Ora Luke
The Ministry is preparing the information in response to your request. However, because the information contains individual names, I would like to ask if you can send us your private email address, where we can send the information you requested, or a mailing address.
You can send this to [MSD request email] preferably before the end of the week.
Thank you.
Ngâ mihi
Official Information team | Ministerial and Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development
Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to be safe, strong and independent.
Manaaki Tangata, Manaaki Whânau.
show quoted sections
From: john luke
Dear OIA_Requests (MSD),
The OIA should promote openness and transparency. There is nothing to hide, these are public offices funded by all New Zealanders. Even if I have provided my personal email address, and once I receive the letter, I intend to share it on the FYI.org.nz website anyway. Therefore, I don’t see any valid reason not to provide it directly. This is about accountability and public transparency. If you believe there is a legitimate reason to withhold any names, you may do so under the Act. Of course, I retain the right to challenge that decision through the Ombudsman.
For context, I have submitted more than 1000+ OIA requests, and not once have I been asked to provide a personal email address or told that the response could not be sent via the FYI.org.nz website. This makes the current position difficult to understand.
Yours sincerely,
john luke
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).
Offensive? Unsuitable?
Requests for personal information and vexatious requests are not considered valid requests for Official Information (read more).
If you believe this request is not suitable, you can report it for attention by the site administrators
Report this request