5 May 2026
Stephanie Mudgeway
[FYI request #34497 email]
Ref: PMO OIA 778-2025-26
Dear Stephanie,
Official Information Act request: Broadcasting Standards Authority
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) request, received on 15 April 2026.
You requested:
“This request concerns the Prime Minister's office's involvement in, awareness of, or
facilitation of the Government's move toward abolishing the Broadcasting Standards
Authority following the BSA's jurisdiction decision regarding The Platform, and in
particular whether Sean Plunket, The Platform, or parties associated with them had any
influence on that direction.
I request:
1. Al correspondence (including emails, letters, text messages, and records of phone
calls or meetings) between the Prime Minister or his office and the following parties,
from 1 January 2024 to the date this request is received, 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 party representative or staff member;
d. The Minister of Media and Communications or his office;
e. Any lobbyist, lawyer, or public relations professional acting on behalf of The Platform
or its backers;
f. Any media owner, editor, or executive with a commercial interest in the BSA's
abolition.
2. Al briefings, policy papers, or advice received by the Prime Minister's office
regarding:
a. Abolishing or disestablishing the BSA;
b. The BSA's jurisdiction decision over The Platform;
c. Coalition management considerations arising from New Zealand First's or Act's calls
to scrap the BSA;
d. Any reputational, legal, or constitutional risks associated with abolishing the BSA in
response to a specific regulatory finding.
3. Al diary entries or records of meetings or phone calls between the Prime Minister or
his staff and:
a. Sean Plunket or any representative or associate of The Platform;
b. Any known funder, investor, or financial backer of The Platform;
from 1 January 2024 to the date this request is received.
4. Any records showing whether the Prime Minister's office discussed or was consulted
on the timing or sequencing of:
a. The Minister's public statements on scrapping the BSA;
b. Government decisions or announcements regarding the BSA's future;
in proximity to the BSA's jurisdiction decision on The Platform.
5. Any records of discussions within the Prime Minister's office regarding whether
abolishing the BSA could be perceived as retaliatory action against the BSA for its
jurisdiction decision, or as protecting Sean Plunket or The Platform from regulatory
accountability.
6. Any coalition agreement documents, side letters, or records of coalition negotiations
in which New Zealand First or Act sought commitments regarding the BSA,
broadcasting regulation, or The Platform.
7. Any records relating to the funders, investors, or financial backers of The Platform
held by or received into the Prime Minister's office.”
No information identified – parts 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7
Searches have been completed of the relevant Information Management Systems for the
information requested in parts 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7 of your request and no information has been
identified. Accordingly, these parts of your request are refused under section 18(e) of the Act,
as the information does not exist.
Not official information – parts 1(c), 2(c) and 6
Parts 1(c), 2(c) and 6 relating to the Coalition arrangements are not considered requests for
official information as set out under section 2 of the Act. Therefore, responses have not been
provided to these parts of your request.
Part 3
In relation to part 3 of your request, you can search the Prime Minister’s diary as it is publicly
available and proactively released on the Beehive website here:
Ministerial Diaries. Your
request for diary entries is therefore refused under section 18(d) of the Act as they are
already publicly available.
No phone calls occurred that are relevant to part 3 of your request therefore, this part of your
request is refused under section 18(e) of the Act.
Part 4
Identified as relevant to part 4 of your request are some media briefings provided to the
Prime Minister by his staff. These briefings are withheld in their entirety under section
9(2)(g)(i) of the Act, 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.
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You have the right to ask the Ombudsman to investigate and review my decision under
section 28(3) of the Act.
Yours sincerely,
Cameron Burrows
Chief of Staff
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