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[IN-CONFIDENCE - RELEASE EXTERNAL] 
 
Julian Jackson 
[FYI request #33338 email]  
15 April 2026 
Tēnā koe Julian 
OIA: GEMS-46748 – Ministerial Advisory Groups, their Terms or Reference, 
allocated budget, expenditures 
Thank you for your email of 20 December 2025 to the Department of the Prime 
Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) requesting the following information: 
Regarding ministerial advisory groups established since the formation of the 
current coalition government (National, ACT, and New Zealand First) following 
the 2023 general election: 
1. A complete list of all ministerial advisory groups formed since 27 November 
2023, including their official titles, responsible ministers, and terms of 
reference. 
2. For each such group, please provide: 
a)  The total allocated budget (including any revisions) for the group’s 
operations for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years. 
b)  A breakdown and the totals of actual expenditures to date, including but 
not limited to: payments or honoraria to members, catering and venue 
costs, administrative or secretariat support, travel and accommodation, 
and any other operational expenses. 
c)  Copies of any Cabinet papers, funding approvals, or internal budgeting 
documents authorizing the group’s financial resourcing. 
This request follows recent public reports indicating significant spending by 
some advisory groups—for example, nearly $24,000 on catering for meetings of 
the Ministerial Advisory Group for victims of retail crime—and growing public 
interest in transparency around such expenditures 
As you are aware, your request has been partially transferred to relevant ministers. 
Because Minister Stanford holds the Education portfolio, your request was sent to 
her office on 2 February 2026 and subsequently transferred to the Ministry of 
 
Wellington – National Office, PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140 
Phone: +64 4 463 8000 
education.govt.nz 
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Education on 4 February 2026. This response is related to the following Ministerial 
Advisory Groups: 
 
1.  Ministerial Advisory Group to review the English and Mathematics & 
Statistics learning areas for Years 0-10 
2.  School Property Ministerial Advisory Group  
3.  Māori Education Ministerial Advisory Group 
 
Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).  
I have structured this response to answer your questions per Ministerial Advisory 
Group. 
  
Ministerial Advisory Group to review the English and Mathematics & Statistics 
learning areas for Years 0-10 
The Terms of Reference for the Ministerial Advisory Group to review the English and 
Mathematics & Statistics learning area for Years 0-10 is published on the Ministry of 
Education website. As such, I am refusing part one of your request under section 
18(d) of the Act, as the information requested is publicly available. 
We have identified one document in scope of part two of your request: Cabinet 
paper Ministerial Advisory Group to review the English, and Mathematics curricula for 
primary and intermediate. This document is published on the Ministry of Education 
website. As such I am refusing this under section 18(d) of the Act, as above.  
Please refer to Document Table One for links to the published information.  
The above-mentioned Cabinet paper pertains to the establishment of the ministerial 
advisory group (MAG) and references remuneration. It also contains the initial Terms 
of Reference from 2023 which were superseded with the 2024 version (refer to part 
one). Note that some information is withheld under the following sections of the Act: 
•  9(2)(a) to protect the privacy of natural persons, including that of deceased 
natural persons. 
•  9(2)(ba)(i) to protect information which is subject to an obligation of confidence 
where making the information available would likely prejudice the supply of 
similar information. 
 
 
education.govt.nz 
 
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In response to part 2a of your request, budget allocation is held at the overall 
programme level and cannot be identified at individual advisory or working group 
level. In addition, the MAG to review the English and Mathematics & Statistics 
learning area for Years 0-10 was disestablished in June 2024, therefore no budget 
allocation exists for the 2024/25 financial year. 
In response to part 2b of your request, I can advise that the total spend for the 
2023/24 financial year was $92,752.00 and for the 2024/25 financial year was 
$17,933.30. As mentioned above, the MAG was disestablished in June 2024, as 
such the total spend in 2024/25 are payments made for costs incurred in the previous 
financial year.  
 
School Property Ministerial Advisory Group  
This MAG provides specialist independent advice to the Ministers for Education and 
Infrastructure on the set up of a new Crown Agency, New Zealand School Property 
Agency (NZSPA). The School Property Group plans, builds, and manages school 
properties to ensure they are safe, warm and dry. It is the second largest social 
property manager in New Zealand responsible for overseeing more than 2,100 
primary and secondary state schools on 8,000 hectares of land with a value of $33.5 
billion.   
The establishment of a new agency with these responsibilities is complex. The MAG 
and NZSPA Establishment Board have and are providing advice to Ministers, the 
Functional Chief Executive and the Secretary for Education with specific areas of 
focus including budget, investment and delivery initiatives.  
There are two Terms of Reference, one for the Ministerial Advisory Group (MAG) on 
School Property that was established in March 2025 and one for the Establishment 
Board which replaced it in December 2025. I am releasing these to you as 
Appendix A.  
I am further including two letters and an Education Report in the appendix as these 
contain information relevant to the Terms of Reference and are in scope of some 
aspects of part two of your request. Some information is withheld under section 
9(2)(a) of the Act to protect the privacy of natural persons. Lastly, I am withholding in 
full the draft School Property MAG APH paper (annex 2.1) under section 9(2)(g)(i) of 
the Act to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank 
expression of opinions by or between or to Ministers of the Crown or members of an 
organisation or officers and employees of any public service agency or organisation 
in the course of their duty. 
There was no allocated budget, as identified in part 2a of your request. The 
associated costs were expected to be met out of baselines. 
education.govt.nz 
 
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You can see the expenditure breakdown you requested in part 2b of your request in 
the Tables One and Two below:  
 
Table One: Ministerial Advisory Group on School Property  
Item 
Expenditure (ex GST) 
Member payments and reimbursements 
 $                           67,972 
Travel & Accommodation  
 $                          19,207  
Catering and Venue Costs 
 $                            5,866  
Secretariat support  
 $                        61,717**  
Total Expenditure (ex GST) 
 $                        154,762* 
*The MAG was established in March 2025 and disestablished on 16 December 2025. Expenditure 
provided in the table above covers costs incurred in this timeframe. Minor estimation has been applied 
where appropriate due to the specific dates.  
**One person is allocated to support the MAG, with dedicated secretariat responsibilities forming only 
a portion of their overall role. Secretariat functions include attendance at meetings; preparation of 
agendas, minutes and supporting material; coordination of meetings and travel arrangements for 
members; management of advice; and drafting reports.   
Table Two: School Property Establishment Board 
Item 
Expenditure (ex GST) 
Member payments and reimbursements 
 $                          11,656 
Travel & Accommodation  
 $                            1,547  
Catering and Venue Costs 
 $                                  0  
Secretariat support  
 $                         11,300**  
Total Expenditure (ex GST) 
 $                          24,503*  
*The Establishment Board was established on 17 December 2025 and is expected to remain until the 
formal New Zealand School Property Agency (NZSPA) Board is appointed in the later part of 2026. 
Expenditure provided in the table above covers costs from 17 December 2025 until the date of 
request; 4 February 2026. Minor estimation has been applied where appropriate due to the specific 
dates. 
**One person is allocated to support the MAG, with dedicated secretariat responsibilities forming only 
a portion of their overall role. Secretariat functions include attendance at meetings; preparation of 
agendas, minutes and supporting material; coordination of meetings and travel arrangements for 
members; management of advice; and drafting reports.   
education.govt.nz 
 
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We identified two documents in scope of part 2c of your request that relate to the 
School Property Ministerial Advisory Group. I am releasing to you the Cabinet 
Appointments and Honours Committee Minute of Decision as Appendix B in full and 
refusing the Cabinet Paper under section 18(d) of the Act, as this is publicly 
available. Some information is withheld under section 9(2)(f)(iv) of the Act, to 
maintain the constitutional conventions for the time being which protect the 
confidentiality of advice tendered by Ministers of the Crown and officials. Please refer 
to Document Table Two Appendix B.   
 
Māori Education Ministerial Advisory Group 
Regarding part one of your request, I am releasing the Terms of Reference in full as 
Appendix C. 
Regarding all aspects of part two of your request, I am partially releasing three 
documents as Appendix D, refer to Document Table Three for my decision on 
release.  
The Cabinet paper approved an initial budget of $0.090m over 2 years, however this 
was increased to $0.150m per annum through the October Baseline Update in 2024, 
through a financially neutral adjustment. That adjustment is detailed in paras 35 - 38 
of the submission that I am releasing to you as an extract (document 3 - extract) as 
permitted under section 16(1)(e) of the Act, where the information requested by any 
person is comprised in a document, that information may be made available by giving 
an excerpt or summary of the content.   
I am also fully releasing a breakdown of financials (expenditures and budgets) in the 
table below. The table: budget and expenditure for the Māori Education MAG for 
financial year FY 2024/2025 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) 
Item 
Expenditure (ex GST) 
Member payments and reimbursements 
 $                      37,263.53  
External Service Providers 
 $                         2,522.25  
Travel 
 $                      15,682.06  
Accommodation and Meals 
 $                         5,195.75  
Catering and Venue Costs 
 $                         1,535.73  
Other operational Costs 
 $                         1,100.00  
Secretariat support  
 $                         3,804.01  
Total Expenditure (ex GST) 
 $                      67,103.33  
 
 
Total Budget FY24/25 
 $                   150,000.00  
 
 
Budget less expenditure at 30 June 2025 
 $                      82,896.67  
education.govt.nz 
 
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As required under section 9(1) of the Act, I have considered the public interest in 
releasing the information withheld. I do not consider that the public interest 
considerations favouring the release of this information are sufficient to outweigh the 
need to withhold it at this time. 
Please note, we may publish this response on our website after five working days. 
Your name and contact details will be removed. 
Thank you again for your email. You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to review 
my decision on your request, in accordance with section 28 of the Act. You can do 
this by writing to [email address] or to Office of the Ombudsman, 
PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143. 
Nāku noa, nā 
 
Lorraine Monahan 
Manager, Ministerial Services  
Te Pou Rangatōpū | Corporate 
 
 
education.govt.nz 
 
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Document table One – MAG to review the English and Mathematics Curricula for 
Primary and Intermediate School Students 
# 
Date
METIS # 
Title 
 
Decision on release 
 
 
1 
Jan 
 
Terms of 
Refused.  
2024 
Reference   
Information has been refused under 
*Redesigning the 
section 18(d) of the Act. 
English and 
Information is publicly available at the 
mathematics and 
following link: https://web-
statistics learning 
assets.education.govt.nz/s3fs-
areas in the 
public/2025-09/Updated-Ministerial-
refreshed New 
Advisory-Group-Terms-of-
Zealand 
Reference-January-2024-30-
Curriculum for 
Jan.pdf?VersionId=H6x58mp0HFOX
Years 0 to 10: 
xiNsjrwYOh3ZTFvBB3SC  
Ministerial 
Advisory Group 
2 
Dec 
 
Cabinet Paper: 
Refused.  
2023 
Ministerial 
Information has been refused under 
Advisory Group to 
section 18(d) of the Act. 
review the English,  Information is publicly available at the 
and Mathematics 
following link:  https://web-
curricula for 
assets.education.govt.nz/s3fs-
primary and 
public/2026-03/3%20-
intermediate 
%20MAG_Redacted%202_0.pdf?Ver
school students 
sionId=b48HAAAKHN_u_EkDX.hhre
YfaJPJaIx7 with some information 
withheld under sections 9(2)(a) and 
9(2)(ba)(i) of the Act. 
*Note:  the  same  as  “Ministerial  Advisory  Group  to  review  the  English,  and  Mathematics 
curricula for primary and intermediate school students”  
Document table Two – School Property MAG 
# 
Date
METIS # 
Title 
 
Decision on release 
 
 
Appendix A 
1 
Terms of Reference – School Property  Released in full. 
– MAG  
education.govt.nz 
 
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# 
Date
METIS # 
Title 
 
Decision on release 
 
 
2 
18 
1342878 
Education Report: 
Released in part. 
Feb 
Updated APH 
Information is withheld under section 
2025 
paper for 
9(2)(a) of the Act 
Ministerial 
Advisory Group on 
School Property 
2.1  Annex 1: Draft: School Property MAG 
Withheld in full under 9(2)(g)(i) of the 
– APH Paper.docx 
Act. 
2.2  Annex 2: Letter from Minister of 
Released in full. 
Education to Hon Judith Collins 
3 
Letter from Hon Chris Bishop to Hon 
Released in full. 
Erica Stanford 
4 
Terms of Reference:  NZ School 
Released in full. 
Property Agency – Establishment 
Board 
Appendix B 
1 
30 
 
Cabinet Minute 
Refused. 
June 
Decision - New 
 
2025 
Model for 
Information refused under section 
Managing the 
18(d) of the Act. https://web-
School Property 
assets.education.govt.nz/s3fs-
Portfolio CAB-25-
public/2026-
MIN-0219 
03/Updated%20Cab%20Pack%20-
%20New%20Model%20for%20mana
ging%20the%20SPP_Redacted.pdf?
VersionId=z4rVqW_Lix51Ohl3KqNm
BvPAH9xMC1KQ with some 
information withheld under section 
9(2)(f)(iv) of the Act. 
2 
18 
 
APH Cabinet 
Released in full. 
Dec 
Appointments and 
2025 
Honours 
Committee APH-
25-MIN-0291 
education.govt.nz 
 
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Document table Three – Māori Education MAG 
# 
Date
METIS # 
Title 
 
Decision on release 
 
 
Appendix C 
1 
23 
 
Terms of 
Released in full. 
Oct 
Reference 
2024 
Ministerial 
Advisory Group 
Appendix D 
1 
27 
APH-24-
APH: Cabinet 
Released in full. 
Aug 
MIN-0184  Appointments and 
2024 
Honours 
Committee Minute 
Decision APH-24-
MIN-0184 
2 
 
 
Cabinet Paper: 
Released in full. 
Māori Education 
Ministerial 
Advisory Group: 
Appointments and 
Terms of 
Reference 
3 
14 
 
2024 October 
Extract provided in full under section 
Oct 
Baseline Update 
16(1)(e) of the Act. 
2024 
Submission for 
Vote Education 
 
 
education.govt.nz 
 
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