John Luke
Conservation House
18 – 32 Manners Street
[FYI request #33978 email]
Te Aro
Wellington 6011
doc.govt.nz
Ref: OIAD-6165
18 March 2026
Tēnā koe John
Thank you for your request to the Department of Conservation, received on 9 March 2026, in
which you asked:
I noted you have several board appointments end at 6 March 2026 namely:
Game Animal Council
New Zealand Conservation Board
QEII National Trust Board
For each of the board, please provide the following information separately.
1. May I ask how you called for public nomination and on what platform you have call
for public nominations e.g. govt.jobs website.
2. how many applications you have received from the public and how many you have
received from other nominating agencies such as TPK or Ministry of women etc for
your role.
3. How many you have shortlisted and how many you have interviewed in this
recruitment round.
4. May I also seek a copy of the ad went out to public and the pay rate.
5. How many role you are wanting to fill per each board for this round.
We have considered your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) and our
responses follow. For ease of understanding we have answered these questions in turn by
each board.
Game Animal Council
1. May I ask how you called for public nomination and on what platform you have call for
public nominations e.g. govt.jobs website.
Public nominations were called for through the Department’s website, NZ Herald, Waikato
Times, The Post, The Press, Otago Daily Times, Facebook, and Instagram.
2. How many applications you have received from the public and how many you have
received from other nominating agencies such as TPK or Ministry of women etc for your
role.
The Department received 18 applications from the public. None were received from other
nominating agencies.
3. How many you have shortlisted and how many you have interviewed in this recruitment
round.
As this appointment process is currently underway, we are declining your request for the
number of nominees shortlisted under section 18(e) of the Act, as the information does not yet
exist. No nominees will be interviewed, as this is not part of the Department’s appointments
process.
4. May I also seek a copy of the ad went out to public and the pay rate.
Please refer to Schedule 1 for a list of the advertisements published in relation to these
vacancies. The submitted text for the advertisements is attached. The daily pay rate for the
Chair is $400, and for members is $290.
5. How many role you are wanting to fill per each board for this round.
In this round, the Department sought to fill four roles.
New Zealand Conservation Authority
1. May I ask how you called for public nomination and on what platform you have call for
public nominations e.g. govt.jobs website.
Public nominations were called for through the Department’s website, NZ Herald, Waikato
Times, The Post, The Press, Otago Daily Times, Facebook, and Instagram.
2. How many applications you have received from the public and how many you have
received from other nominating agencies such as TPK or Ministry of women etc for your
role.
The Department received 12 applications from the public. None were received from other
nominating agencies.
3. How many you have shortlisted and how many you have interviewed in this recruitment
round.
As this appointment process is currently underway, we are declining your request for the
number of nominees shortlisted under section 18(e) of the Act, as the information does not yet
exist. No nominees will be interviewed, as this is not part of the Department’s appointments
process.
4. May I also seek a copy of the ad went out to public and the pay rate.
Please refer to Schedule 1 for a list of the advertisements published in relation to these
vacancies. The submitted text for the advertisements is attached. The daily pay rate for the
Chair is $700, and for members is $450.
5. How many role you are wanting to fill per each board for this round.
In this round, the Department sought to fill three of the public vacancy roles.
2
QEII National Trust
1. May I ask how you called for public nomination and on what platform you have call for
public nominations e.g. govt.jobs website.
Public nominations were called for through the Department’s website, NZ Herald, Waikato
Times, The Post, The Press, Otago Daily Times, Facebook, and Instagram.
2. How many applications you have received from the public and how many you have
received from other nominating agencies such as TPK or Ministry of women etc for your
role.
The Department received 13 applications from the public. None were received from other
nominating agencies.
3. How many you have shortlisted and how many you have interviewed in this recruitment
round.
As this appointment process is currently underway, we are declining your request for the
number of nominees shortlisted under section 18(e) of the Act, as the information does not yet
exist. No nominees will be interviewed, as this is not part of the Department’s appointments
process.
4. May I also seek a copy of the ad went out to public and the pay rate.
Please refer to Schedule 1 for a list of the advertisements published in relation to these
vacancies. The submitted text for the advertisements is attached. The annual fee for the Chair
is $22,000, and for members is $11,000.
5. How many role you are wanting to fill per each board for this round.
In this round, the Department sought to fill two roles.
I have decided to release the relevant documents, listed in
Schedule 1, in full. Please refer to
Attachment A. You are entitled to seek an investigation and review of my decision by writing to an
Ombudsman as provided by section 28(3) of the Official Information Act.
Please note that this letter (with your personal details removed) and attached documents may
be published on the Department’s website.
Nāku noa, nā
Kelley Reeve
Director Governance and Government Services
Department of Conservation
Te Papa Atawhai
3
SCHEDULE 1 – NOMINATION ADVERTISEMENTS
Document Date
Document description
Decision
1
5 February 2026 Game Animal Council newspaper
Released in full
advertisement text
2
5 February 2026 Game Animal Council advertisement text Released in full
for Department of Conservation website
3
9 February 2026 Game Animal Council advertisement text Released in full
for Instagram and Facebook
4
5 February 2026 NZ Conservation Authority newspaper
Released in full
advertisement text
5
5 February 2026 NZ Conservation Authority advertisement Released in full
text for Department of Conservation
website
6
9 February 2026 NZ Conservation Authority advertisement Released in full
text for Instagram and Facebook
7
5 February 2026 QEII National Trust newspaper
Released in full
advertisement text
8
5 February 2026 QEII National Trust advertisement text
Released in full
for Department of Conservation website
9
9 February 2026 QEII National Trust advertisement text
Released in full
for Instagram and Facebook
4
