Kia ora Nigel, 
Please find attached the Ministry's response to your request of 16 April. 

Ministry for the Environment | Manatū Mō Te Taiao

 

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From: Nigel Gray
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2026 10:15 AM
To: OIA
Subject: Re: Official Information request - Cost, Staffing, and SME
Clarification
MFE CYBER SECURITY WARNING This email originated from outside our
organisation. Please take extra care when clicking on any links or opening
any attachments. Cost, Staffing, and SME Clarification Official
Information Act Request To: Ministry for the Environment Date: 15 April
2026 Dear Ministry for the Environment, I am requesting the following
information under the Official Information Act 1982, relating to the
preparation of the Minister’s response to my correspondence (PS‑COR1780 /
26‑CORM‑00148), and the associated Ministerials that were templated from
it (including but not limited to PS‑COR1794, PS‑COR1796, PS‑COR1799,
COR1780, COR1839, 26‑CORM‑00200, 26‑CORM‑00204). 1. Staff involved 1.1
Please provide the full list of all staff (roles, not names) who worked on
drafting, reviewing, editing, approving, or managing the response to
PS‑COR1780 / 26‑CORM‑00148 and the associated templated Ministerials. 1.2
For each role, please provide: job title team / business unit
classification (e.g., advisor, senior advisor, manager, SME, etc.) whether
the role is considered a “subject‑matter expert” under MfE’s internal
definitions 2. SME designation 2.1 Please provide the Ministry’s
definition of “SME” (subject‑matter expert) as used in Ministerial
drafting processes. 2.2 Please provide the criteria used to assign SME
status to staff. 2.3 Please confirm which staff involved in this response
were designated as SMEs, and on what basis. 2.4 Please confirm whether any
scientific, technical, or professional subject‑matter experts (e.g.,
atmospheric scientists, aerosol specialists, maritime emissions experts,
hazard‑mitigation specialists, NIWA, MetService, EPA, Maritime NZ
technical staff) were consulted at any stage. 2.5 If no scientific SMEs
were consulted, please provide the Ministry’s reasoning for this. 3. Staff
time and cost 3.1 Please provide the total number of staff hours spent
preparing the response to PS‑COR1780 / 26‑CORM‑00148 and the associated
templated Ministerials. 3.2 Please provide the total cost to the Ministry,
including: staff time managerial review Ministerial Services processing
SME review Minister’s Office processing 3.3 If the Ministry does not hold
a consolidated total, please provide: the hourly rate band for each role
involved the estimated time spent by each role the Ministry’s standard
costing method for Ministerial correspondence 4. Process and workflow 4.1
Please provide any internal documents that describe: how Ministerial
responses are costed how staff time is recorded how SME involvement is
determined how Ministerial drafting teams are assigned 4.2 Please confirm
whether the Ministry considers the preparation of PS‑COR1780 /
26‑CORM‑00148 to have been: routine complex escalated cross‑team
cross‑agency 4.3 Please provide any internal assessment of the resource
impact of handling multiple “ship emissions correspondence items”
simultaneously. 5. Templating 5.1 Please confirm the date on which the
Minister’s Office instructed the Ministry to use the draft response to
PS‑COR1780 as the template for all other ship‑emissions correspondence.
5.2 Please provide any internal documents discussing: the decision to
template the rationale for templating the implications of templating for
accuracy, scientific integrity, or public transparency 6. Monitoring and
evidence 6.1 Please confirm whether the Ministry holds any internal
guidance on the use of the phrase “does not hold any evidence” in
situations where the Ministry does not monitor or study the phenomenon in
question. 6.2 If such guidance exists, please provide it. 6.3 If such
guidance does not exist, please confirm this explicitly. I am requesting
this information because the Ministry’s own OIA release (26‑OIAD‑00732)
shows that at least 19 staff were involved in producing a templated,
non‑scientific response, and I am seeking clarity on the resource use, SME
designation, and internal processes involved. Yours faithfully, Nigel Gray
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