Tçnâ koe Simon

 

Thank you for your request below. This request will be considered under
the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA).
Wellington Water will provide a response no later than 21 April 2026,
being 20 working days from the date the request was received.

 

We are currently assessing the information you have requested. Initial
feedback from the team is that clarification is required before your
request can be progressed.

 

As framed, the key terms in your request are too broad to enable an
effective and reasonable search of Wellington Water’s information systems.
In particular, the use of multiple “and/or” statements makes the scope of
the request unclear and open to interpretation. As a result, Wellington
Water is unable to determine which specific keywords should be applied, or
in what combinations, to conduct a reliable search.

 

To enable Wellington Water to progress your request, please clarify and
refine the search parameters into specific and concise components. The
statutory timeframe for responding to your request will be paused until
sufficient clarification is received, in accordance with the LGOIMA.

 

 

Ngâ mihi,
Leni Aston Senior LGOIMA Advisor

 

 

Private Bag 39804, Wellington Mail Centre 5045

Level 4, 25 Victoria Street, Petone, Lower Hutt

[1]www.wellingtonwater.co.nz

 

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Neil Quinn <[FOI #34195 email]>
Sent: Sunday, March 22, 2026 11:14 AM
To: Official Information <[Wellington Water Limited request email]>
Subject: LGOIMA 26-064 Official Information request - Probity and social
drinking with contractors

 

[You don't often get email from
[2][FOI #34195 email]. Learn why this is
important at [3]https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific... ]

 

Caution: This is an external email. Please take care when clicking links
or opening attachments.

 

 

Dear Wellington Water Limited,

 

Based on a search of key terms in emails between procurement/project
management staff employed by WWL or subcontracted to it, please identify
how many staff have been invited to social drinks with contractors and
whether these relationships/events have been disclosed in any register.

 

key terms such as the following:

 

1. Core “drinking / social” keywords

 

drinks / drink / beers / beer / wine / whisky/ keg catch up / meetup /
meet-up / get together after work / after-work / after hours Friday drinks
/ team drinks happy hour dinner / lunch / breakfast meeting shout / I’ll
shout / my shout hospitality / hosting bar / pub / restaurant “grab a
drink”

“quick one”

 

These capture informal language, which is where risk usually hides.

 

2. Link to contractors / procurement context

 

Now combine with terms tying them to decision-making roles:

 

contractor / supplier / vendor

tender / bid / RFP / RFQ

procurement / sourcing

project manager / contract manager

award / awarded / selection

panel / evaluation

variation / change order

invoice / payment / approval

 

3. Probity / influence / benefit indicators

 

These are critical—they distinguish harmless socialising from potential
breaches:

 

paid / covered / expense / expensed

“on us” / “my treat” / “company card”

favour / help / push through

approval / sign-off

“look after”

“take care of”

“no paper trail” (rare but high-value)

gift / hospitality

tickets / event / box / corporate

relationship / mate / friend

 

4. High-value combined search strings

 

Instead of single words, use compound queries (this is where the real
signal is):

 

Examples:

"drinks" AND (contractor OR supplier)

"grab a drink" AND (project OR tender)

(beer OR wine OR dinner) AND (contract manager OR procurement)
(hospitality OR shout OR "my treat") AND (supplier OR vendor) (after work
OR happy hour) AND (contract OR variation OR approval) (restaurant OR bar)
AND (contractor AND approval)  5. Behaviour-pattern searches (very
effective)

 

These often reveal intent better than obvious keywords:

 

(“good to catch up”) AND (contractor)

(“let’s discuss offline”) AND (drinks OR dinner) (“before the tender” OR
“after the meeting”) AND (drinks) (“can you approve”) AND (lunch OR
dinner) (“thanks for last night”) AND (project OR contract)

 

6. Red-flag phrases (low frequency, high impact)

 

“keep this between us”

“off the record”

“don’t include in email”

“I’ll take care of it” (with contractor context) “we’ll sort it over a
drink”

 

7. Metadata / pattern filters (often overlooked)

 

If you can, also filter by:

 

Emails outside business hours

Repeated 1:1 exchanges between same contractor + manager Calendar invites
with vague titles (“catch up”, “coffee”, “drinks”) Expense claims tied to
vendors

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Simon Glenn

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

 

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[4][FOI #34195 email]

 

Is [5][Wellington Water Limited request email] the wrong address for
Official Information requests to Wellington Water Limited? If so, please
contact us using this form:

[6]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[7]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

References

Visible links
1. Wellington Water Website
http://www.wellingtonwater.co.nz/
2. mailto:[FOI #34195 email]
3. https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific...
4. mailto:[FOI #34195 email]
5. mailto:[Wellington Water Limited request email]
6. https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
7. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

hide quoted sections

Tēnā koe Simon

 

Attached is the response to your LGOIMA request .

 

Ngā mihi,

Senior LGOIMA Advisor

 

 

 

Private Bag 39804, Wellington Mail Centre 5045

Level 4, 25 Victoria Street, Petone, Lower Hutt

www.wellingtonwater.co.nz

 

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Neil Quinn <[FOI #34195 email]>
Sent: Saturday, April 4, 2026 3:53 PM
To: Official Information <[Wellington Water Limited request email]>
Subject: Re: LGOIMA 26-064 Official Information request - Probity and
social drinking with contractors - acknowledgement and refinement

 

[You don't often get email from
[1][FOI #34195 email]. Learn why this is
important at [2]https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific... ]

 

Caution: This is an external email. Please take care when clicking links
or opening attachments.

 

 

Dear Official Information,

Subject: Clarification of LGOIMA Request – Aggregated Search Results

 

Kia ora Leni,

 

Thank you for your response.

 

To address concerns regarding scope and privacy, I refine my request to
seek **aggregated, de-identified information only**, rather than
individual emails.

Timeframe

 

Each financial year for the past five years:

 

* 1 July 2020 – 30 June 2021

* 1 July 2021 – 30 June 2022

* 1 July 2022 – 30 June 2023

* 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024

* 1 July 2024 – present

 

Custodians

 

Staff or contractors in roles of:

 

* Project Manager

* Contract Manager

* Procurement Manager

 

Search Methodology

Using a standard mailbox or eDiscovery search, identify emails that
contain:

 

> **At least one term from Group A AND at least one term from Group B**

 

**Group A – Social / Hospitality Terms:** “drinks”, “drink”, “beer”,
“wine”, “lunch”, “dinner”, “coffee”, “catch up”, “meet up”, “after work”,
“happy hour”, “restaurant”, “bar”, “pub”, “hospitality”, “my treat”,
“shout”

 

**Group B – Contractor / Work Context Terms:** “contractor”, “supplier”,
“vendor”, “tender”, “procurement”, “project”, “contract”, “variation”,
“approval”

 

Use the following query script :

("drinks" OR "drink" OR "beer" OR "wine" OR "lunch" OR "dinner" OR
"coffee" OR "catch up" OR "meet up" OR "after work" OR "happy hour" OR
"restaurant" OR "bar" OR "pub" OR "hospitality" OR "my treat" OR "shout")
AND ("contractor" OR "supplier" OR "vendor" OR "tender" OR "procurement"
OR "project" OR "contract" OR "variation" OR "approval")

 

Information Requested (Aggregated Only)

 

For each financial year:

 

1. The total number of emails matching the above criteria 2. The number of
unique staff accounts associated with those emails (de-identified) 3. A
distribution of email counts per staff account (e.g. 1, 2–5, 6–10, 10+) 4.
Where available, the number of distinct external counterparties (e.g. DNS
domains) involved 5. Monthly or quarterly distribution of matching emails
6. Count of matching emails occurring outside standard business hours
Clarification

 

This request does not seek the content of emails or the identification of
individuals. It is limited to aggregated, anonymised information derived
from a structured search.

 

Please proceed on this clarified basis.

 

Ngā mihi,

 

-----Original Message-----

 

Tçnâ koe Simon

 

 

 

Thank you for your request below. This request will be considered under 
the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA).

Wellington Water will provide a response no later than 21 April 2026, 
being 20 working days from the date the request was received.

 

 

 

We are currently assessing the information you have requested. Initial 
feedback from the team is that clarification is required before your 
request can be progressed.

 

 

 

As framed, the key terms in your request are too broad to enable an 
effective and reasonable search of Wellington Water’s information systems.

In particular, the use of multiple “and/or” statements makes the scope of 
the request unclear and open to interpretation. As a result, Wellington 
Water is unable to determine which specific keywords should be applied,
or  in what combinations, to conduct a reliable search.

 

 

 

To enable Wellington Water to progress your request, please clarify and 
refine the search parameters into specific and concise components. The 
statutory timeframe for responding to your request will be paused until 
sufficient clarification is received, in accordance with the LGOIMA.

 

 

 

 

 

Ngâ mihi,

Leni Aston Senior LGOIMA Advisor

 

 

 

 

 

Private Bag 39804, Wellington Mail Centre 5045

 

Level 4, 25 Victoria Street, Petone, Lower Hutt

 

[1][3]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[4][FOI #34195 email]

 

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[5]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...

 

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #34195 email]
2. https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentific...
3. http://www.wellingtonwater.co.nz/
4. mailto:[FOI #34195 email]
5. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

hide quoted sections