20260612 BSA response to Mudgeway OIA request.pdf

12 June 2026
Stephanie Mudgeway
         via fyi.org.nz
Tēnā koe Stephanie
Official Information Act 1982 request
On 15 April 2026, you requested, under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA):
1.  ‘All correspondence (including emails, letters, text messages, and records of phone calls or
meetings) between the BSA and the following parties, from 1 January 2024 to the date this
request is received, on any subject relating to The Platform, Sean Plunket, the BSA's
jurisdiction over online broadcasters, or the future or abolition of the BSA:
a.  The office of the Minister of Media and Communications;
b.  The Prime Minister's office;
c.  Any New Zealand First or Act party representative, staff member, or associate;
d.  Sean Plunket, or any employee, representative, funder, investor, or associate of The
Platform;
e.  Any lobbyist, lawyer, or third party acting on behalf of The Platform or its backers.
2.  Any communications received by the BSA that could be construed as threatening, warning of,
or advocating for the abolition or reform of the BSA in connection with its jurisdiction decision
over The Platform.
3.  Any internal BSA records — including board minutes, staff emails, briefing notes, or
memoranda — discussing:
a.  Political reaction to the jurisdiction decision over The Platform;
b.  The possibility that the jurisdiction decision could trigger legislative or ministerial
action against the BSA;
c.  Any anticipated or actual pressure from Ministers, coalition parties, or The Platform
and its associates to reverse, reconsider, or narrow the jurisdiction decision.
4.  Any legal advice obtained by the BSA regarding its vulnerability to legislative abolition or
mandate reduction following the jurisdiction decision.
5.  Any records identifying the funders, investors, or financial backers of The Platform, where
these were known to or held by the BSA in connection with the complaint or jurisdiction
decision.’
In our response dated 13 May 2026, we extended the time limit to respond to this request by
20 working days – until 12 June 2026.
Your request has been responded to in order below. Thank you for your patience.

Our response
Part 1a: Correspondence with the office of the Minister for Media and Communications
Please find attached as Appendix 1 communications between the Broadcasting Standards
Authority (BSA) and the Minister’s office that are in scope of your request. All redactions in
Appendix 1 have been made under s 9(2)(a) of the OIA (privacy). Also, where attachments
referenced in the attached materials are publicly available – namely, at page 20 – hyperlinks
to their location on our website have been added.
Part 1b: Correspondence with the Prime Minister's office
This part of your request is refused under s 18(g) of the OIA. The BSA has not corresponded
with the Prime Minister’s office ‘on any subject relating to The Platform, Sean Plunket, the
BSA's jurisdiction over online broadcasters, or the future or abolition of the BSA’ between 1
January 2024 to 15 April 2026. Accordingly, the information requested is not held by the
BSA.
Part 1c: Correspondence with ‘any New Zealand First or Act party representative, staff
member, or associate’
We also refuse this part of your request under s 18(g), as the BSA does not hold the
information requested.
Part 1d: Correspondence with ‘Sean Plunket, or any employee, representative, funder,
investor, or associate of The Platform’
Section 2(6)(b) of the OIA excludes certain types of entities from the OIA’s definition of
‘organisation’ – including, ‘in relation to its judicial functions, a tribunal’. The OIA therefore
does not apply to information held by the BSA in connection with its role as a tribunal
charged with receiving and considering complaints under the Broadcasting Act 1989.
Any communication between the BSA and Sean Plunket ‘or any employee, representative,
funder, investor, or associate of The Platform’ between 1 January 2024 and 15 April 2026
has been in relation to WK v The Platform Media NZ Ltd & NZ Media Holdings 2023 Ltd1,
and the application of the Broadcasting Act 1989 to The Platform’s transmissions. We
therefore refuse this part of your request on the basis that, for the purposes of the OIA, the
information requested is not held by the BSA.2
Part 1e: Correspondence with ‘any lobbyist, lawyer, or third party acting on behalf of The
Platform or its backers’
For the same reasons provided in response to part 1d above, we also refuse this part of
your request under s 2(6)(b) – and, in turn, s 18(g) of the OIA.
1 Decision No. ID2025-063
2 Official Information Act 1982, s 18(g)

Part 2: ‘Communications received by the BSA that could be construed as threatening,
warning of, or advocating for the abolition or reform of the BSA in connection with its
jurisdiction decision over The Platform’
Assessing communications received to determine whether they (emphasis added) ‘could be
construed as threatening, warning of, or advocating for the abolition or reform of the BSA’
would involve a subjective analysis of BSA materials and, in turn, require the BSA to form an
opinion. The OIA does not apply to requests that require an agency to form an opinion or
create new information to answer the request. Accordingly, such requests can be refused
under s 18(g) of the OIA on the basis the information requested is not held.
However, please see attached as Appendix 2 an Excel spreadsheet we consider is in
scope of your request. This spreadsheet is a summary of communications from members of
the public in response to the WK and The Platform Media NZ Ltd & NZ Media Holdings 2023
Ltd proceedings. These communications were either emails sent to the BSA’s general and
complaints email addresses, or voicemails left on the BSA’s public phone line.
Please note: Appendix 2 contains strong language that some might find offensive, and some
material has been redacted under s 9(2)(a) of the OIA.
Part 3a: Internal records discussing the ‘political reaction to the jurisdiction decision’
Please find attached as Appendices 3A and 3B materials that fall within the scope of this
part of your request. Unless otherwise specified, all redactions in Appendices 3A and 3B
have been made under s 9(2)(a) of the OIA. Some materials have been withheld in full under
s 18(a) of the OIA by virtue of s 9(2)(g)(i) – withholding of information is necessary to
maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of
opinions.
Part 3b: Internal records discussing the ‘possibility that the jurisdiction decision could trigger
legislative or ministerial action against the BSA’
This part of your request is refused under the following OIA provisions:
  Section 18(g): The OIA does not apply to information held by the BSA in connection
with its role as a tribunal charged with receiving and considering complaints under
the Broadcasting Act.3 Accordingly, material connected to the WK v The Platform NZ
Media Ltd & NZ Media Holdings 2023 Ltd proceedings is not subject to release under
the OIA on the basis it is not, for the purposes of the OIA, held by the BSA.
  Section 18(a): Under s 9 of the OIA, there is good reason for withholding the
information. In this case, the relevant s 9 subsections include:
o  Section 9(2)(h), withholding of information is necessary to maintain legal
professional privilege; and
o  Section 9(2)(g), withholding of information is necessary to maintain the
effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of
opinions.
3 Section 2(6)(b)

Part 3c: Internal records discussing ‘any anticipated or actual pressure from Ministers,
coalition parties, or The Platform and its associates to reverse, reconsider, or narrow the
jurisdiction decision’
The BSA is an independent Crown entity.4 Accordingly, the BSA is generally independent of
government policy – ministers may not direct the BSA to have regard to government policy
unless specifically provided for an Act.5 We therefore have no internal records discussing
‘any anticipated or actual pressure’ from ministers or coalition parties ‘to reverse, reconsider,
or narrow’ the Authority’s decision in WK v The Platform Media NZ Ltd & NZ Media Holdings
2023 Ltd. Because the documents requested do not exist, we decline this part of your
request under s 18(e) of the OIA.
Any internal records regarding The Platform that are in scope of this part of your request
relate to the WK v The Platform Media NZ Ltd & NZ Media Holdings 2023 Ltd proceedings.
We therefore refuse your request for records pertaining to The Platform on the basis that, for
the purposes of the OIA, the information requested is not held by the BSA.6
We also consider ‘associates’ of The Platform is a term that lacks due particularity.7 If
‘associates’ is a reference to Reality Check Radio or lawyers representing either
organisation, then any correspondence relates to the WK v The Platform Media NZ Ltd & NZ
Media Holdings 2023 Ltd proceedings and is therefore withheld under ss 2(6)(b) and 18(g) of
the OIA.
Part 4: ‘Any legal advice obtained by the BSA regarding its vulnerability to legislative
abolition or mandate reduction following the jurisdiction decision’
This part of your request is refused under s 18(e) of the OIA. The BSA did not obtain legal
advice, whether internal or external, ‘regarding its vulnerability to legislative abolition or
mandate reduction following the jurisdiction decision’.
Part 5: ‘Any records identifying the funders, investors, or financial backers of The Platform,
where these were known to or held by the BSA in connection with the complaint or
jurisdiction decision’
This part of your request is refused under s 18(e) of the OIA on the basis the documents
requested do not exist.
For completeness, we note page one of Appendix 3B includes a New Zealand Herald report
about Troy Bowker’s claim that he would ‘help fund legal action to support Sean Plunket’ in
respect of the WK v The Platform Media NZ Ltd & NZ Media Holdings 2023 Ltd proceedings.
However, this material is not ‘known to or held by the BSA in connection with the complaint
or jurisdiction decision’ and, accordingly, we do not consider this material falls within the
scope of this part of your request.
4 Crown Entities Act 2004, pt 3
5 Crown Entities Act 2004, ss 7(1)(a) and 105
6 Official Information Act 1982, ss 2(6)(b) and 18(g)
7 Official Information Act 1982, s 12(2)

Right to refer to Ombudsman
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 www.ombudsman.parliament.nz
or by calling 0800 802 602.
If you would like to discuss this matter with us, you can contact me or our Legal Manager,
Helen Cruse.
Ngā mihi mahana | Warm regards
Stacey Wood
Chief Executive