5 May 2026
Stephanie Mudgeway
[FYI request #34496 email]
Official Information Act Request
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request, received on 15 April
2026. You requested:
“This request concerns the sequence of events between the Broadcasting
Standards Authority's jurisdiction decision regarding The Platform and the
Government's subsequent move toward abolishing the BSA, and in particular
whether that decision was influenced by Sean Plunket, The Platform, or
parties associated with them.
I request:
1. Al correspondence (including emails, letters, text messages, and records
of phone calls or meetings) between the Minister or his office and the
following parties, from 1 January 2024 to the date this request is received, on
any matter relating to the BSA, The Platform, online broadcasting regulation,
or the abolition of the BSA:
a. Sean Plunket, or any employee, representative, funder, investor, or
associate of The Platform;
b. Winston Peters or his office;
c. Any Act or New Zealand First party representative or staff member;
d. Any lobbyist, lawyer, public relations professional, or third party acting on
behalf of The Platform or its backers;
e. Any media owner, editor, or executive with a financial or commercial
interest in the BSA's abolition.
2. Al ministerial briefings, Cabinet papers, regulatory impact assessments, or
policy advice received by the Minister relating to:
a. Abolishing or disestablishing the BSA;
b. Replacing the BSA with a self-regulatory or Media Council-style
arrangement;
c. The BSA's jurisdiction over online broadcasters, including The Platform;
d. The legal or constitutional implications of abolishing the BSA in response to
a specific regulatory decision.
3. Al diary entries, calendar records, or records of meetings or phone calls
involving the Minister or his staff and:
a. Sean Plunket or any representative or associate of The Platform;
b. Any funder, investor, or backer of The Platform;
from 1 January 2024 to the date this request is received.
4. Any records showing the sequence and timing of:
a. The BSA's jurisdiction decision regarding The Platform;
b. Any subsequent contact between The Platform or its associates and the
Minister's office;
c. The Minister's subsequent public statements describing himself as
"tempted" to scrap the BSA, and then indicating scrapping was his preferred
option.
5. Any records in which the Minister or his office discussed, internally or with
third parties, abolishing the BSA as a means of resolving the jurisdiction
dispute over The Platform, or preventing the BSA from further considering the
complaint against Sean Plunket.
6. Any records relating to the funders, investors, or financial backers of The
Platform that were received by or held in the Minister's office.
7. Any Cabinet or coalition discussions regarding the abolition of the BSA,
including any records of New Zealand First or Act raising the matter in a
coalition or confidence-and-supply context.”
Parts 1 (a) and 4(b) of your request
My press secretary fields calls from media outlets on a regular basis, including the
Platform. I am aware of a number of phone calls made from the Platform to my press
secretary seeking comment and requesting interviews on the jurisdiction decision
made by the BSA. I have made public comments on this, being that the matter is
operational in nature, and remains the responsibility of the Board of the BSA. My
press secretary reiterated these comments.
Parts 1(b), 1(c), and 7 are not official information
Parts 1(b), 1(c), and 7 relating to Coalition arrangements are not considered
requests for official information as set out under section 2 of the OIA, therefore these
parts of your request are refused.
Parts 1(d), 1(e), 3(b) and 6 lack due particularity
Parts 1(d), 1(e), 3(b) and 6 relating to
backers, funders and investors of The
Platform. We do not hold a list of
backers, funder or investors for The Platform.
Therefore, due to a lack of specificity and due particularity as required under section
12(2) of the OIA, this part is refused.
Parts 2(a), 2(b) and 2(d) are under active consideration
Parts 2(a), 2(b) and 2(d) relating to advice on the abolition or disestablishment of the
BSA are withheld in full under section 9(2)(f)(iv) of the OIA, which protects the
orderly and effective conduct of executive government decision making processes
while decisions are active.
Part 3(a) is publicly available
My diary is publicly available and proactively released on the on the Beehive website
here:
Ministerial Diaries. Your request for diary entries is therefore refused under
section 18(d) of the OIA, as they are already publicly available.
Part 1(a) covers the phone call portion of Part 3(a) of your request.
Part 4(a) does not exist
Searches have been completed of the relevant Information Management Systems
for a record showing the sequence and timing of the BSA’s jurisdiction decision
regarding the Platform, and no record has been identified. Therefore, this part of
your request is refused under section 18(e) of the OIA, that the information doesn’t
exist.
Parts 4(c) and 5 are Free and Frank
Parts 4(c) and 5, relating to advice on public statements and internal discussions are
withheld in full under section 9(2)(g)(i) of the OIA, to maintain the effective conduct of
public affairs through the free and frank expression of opinion.
In making my decision, I have considered the public interest considerations in
section 9(1) of the Act. No public interest has been identified that would be sufficient
to outweigh the reasons for withholding that information.
You have the right to ask the Ombudsman to investigate and review my decision
under section 28(3) of the Act.
Yours sincerely,
Hon Paul Goldsmith
Minister for Media and Communications
