MOIA Reply PMO OIA 786 2025 26.pdf

19 May 2026

Joshua Riley
[FYI request #34550 email]

Ref: PMO OIA 786-2025-26

Dear Joshua,

Official Information Act request: Information relating to the New Zealand–India Free
Trade Agreement

Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) request, received on 26 April 2026.
You requested:

“I request the following information held by Office of the Prime Minister, covering the
period 1 January 2025 to the date of this request:

1. Al  communications (including emails, text messages, WhatsApp / Signal / other
messaging app correspondence, letters, briefings, file notes, meeting minutes, and
diary entries) between staff of Office of the Prime Minister and any of the following
parties, where the subject matter relates to the New Zealand–India Free Trade
Agreement or to the promotion, amplification, or social media coverage of statements
by the Prime Minister or the Minister for Trade and Investment regarding India or the
FTA:

a. Social media influencers, content creators, or operators of social media accounts
(including but not limited to accounts on X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn,
YouTube, and WhatsApp);

b. Public relations, communications, marketing, or digital strategy firms or consultants;

c. Media organisations, journalists, or media-buying agencies based in India or
primarily serving Indian audiences;

d. Diaspora organisations, community groups, or business councils with a focus on
India–New Zealand relations;

e. Officials, agencies, or representatives of the Government of India (including the
Indian High Commission to New Zealand, the Ministry of External Affairs, and the
Ministry of Commerce and Industry) where those communications relate to social
media activity, content sharing, or coordinated promotion;

f. Any third party engaged or paid (whether by [agency], by another government
agency, or by a contracted intermediary) to promote, amplify, share, retweet, like, or
otherwise increase the reach of social media content concerning the India FTA.

2. Any contracts, statements of work, purchase orders, invoices, or financial records
relating to the engagement of any party for the purpose of social media amplification,
influencer marketing, audience targeting, or coordinated promotion of messaging
concerning the India FTA, including any spend on paid amplification on X/Twitter or

other platforms.

3. Any internal strategy documents, communications plans, media plans, or briefings
concerning the digital or social media communications strategy for the India FTA,
including any analysis, monitoring, or reporting on social media engagement (e.g.
retweets, likes, follower analytics) of posts by the Prime Minister or the Minister for
Trade and Investment relating to India or the FTA.

4. Any correspondence with platforms (including X Corp / Twitter, Meta, Google)
regarding the promotion, boosting, or analytics of posts relating to the India FTA.
For the avoidance of doubt, this request includes communications conducted on
personal devices or non-government accounts where they relate to official business, in
line with the Ombudsman's guidance on the OIA.”

Information being released

Please find enclosed copies of the following documents:

Item
Date(s)
Document description
Decision
1
26 April
Emails between staff from the Prime
Release, some information
and 24
Minister’s Office (PMO) and staff from
withheld under section
April 2026
the Department of the Prime Minister
9(2)(a).
and Cabinet (DPMC)
2
23 April
Emails between PMO staff and DPMC  Release, some information
2026
staff
withheld under section

9(2)(a).

Attached document: NZ-India FTA
Refused under section 18(d).
signature: PM’s pre-recorded remarks
3
21-23 April
Emails between PMO staff, and emails  Release, some information
2026
between PMO staff and staff from Hon  withheld under section
Todd McClay’s office
9(2)(a).
4
22 April
Emails between PMO staff
Release, some information
2026
withheld under section
9(2)(a).
5
20 April
Emails between PMO staff
Release, some information
2026

withheld under section

9(2)(a) and section 9(2)(k).

Attached documents:
Refused under section 18(d).
•  New Zealand secures

landmark Free Trade

Agreement with India (press

release)
•  Prime Minister celebrates
historic India FTA (press
release)
•  Backpocket: New Zealand-
India FTA Lines
•  New Zealand-India Free
Trade Agreement benefits
•  New Zealand-India Free
Trade Agreement media
explainer
•  New Zealand-India Free
Trade Agreement summary
2

Item
Date(s)
Document description
Decision
•  New Zealand-India Free
Trade Agreement key tariff
outcomes
6
22
Remarks for New Zealand-India Free
Release.
December
Trade Agreement stand-up
2025
7
10 March,
Emails between DPMC staff and PMO  Release, some information
and 5-7
staff
withheld under section
March 2025
9(2)(a).

Attached document: Public
Refused under section 18(d).
communications package

I have decided to release the documents listed in the table above, subject to some
information being withheld under the following sections of the Act:

•  section 9(2)(a), to protect the privacy of individuals
•  section 9(2)(k), to prevent disclosure or use for improper gain or advantage.

A small amount of information is not in scope of your request and is marked accordingly.

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.

Information publicly available

The following information is also in scope of your request (see item five) and is publicly
available at the following links:

Date
Document description
Website address
22 December  Press release: New Zealand
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-
2025
secures landmark Free
zealand-secures-landmark-free-trade-
Trade Agreement with India
agreement-india

22 December  Press release: Prime Minister  https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/prime-
2025
celebrates historic India FTA
minister-celebrates-historic-india-fta

N/A
New Zealand-India Free
https://www.mfat.govt.nz/assets/Trade-
Trade Agreement summary
agreements/NZ-India-FTA/New-Zealand-
India-Free-Trade-Agreement-Summary.pdf

N/A
New Zealand-India Free
https://www.mfat.govt.nz/assets/Trade-
Trade Agreement benefits
agreements/NZ-India-FTA/NZ-India-FTA-
Benefits.pdf

N/A
New Zealand-India Free
https://www.mfat.govt.nz/assets/Trade-
Trade Agreement key tariff
agreements/NZ-India-FTA/NZ-India-FTA-
outcomes
Key-Tariff-Outcomes.pdf

Accordingly, I have refused the part of your request for the documents listed in the above
table under section 18(d) of the Act – the information requested is or wil  soon be publicly
available.

3

Parts two, three, and four

I can advise that this office has carried out a search of its electronic databases for
information in scope of parts two, three, and four of your request. No documents have been
identified and accordingly, these parts of your request are refused under section 18(e) of the
Act as the requested documents do not exist.

Additional information

As identified in the table above there are four additional documents in scope of your request
(see items two, five, and seven) which I understand are being assessed for proactive release
by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) on their website. Accordingly, I have
refused the part of your request for these documents under section 18(d) of the Act – the
information requested is or wil soon be publicly available.

I understand that you sent similar requests to MFAT and Hon Todd McClay, and you can
expect responses from MFAT and Hon Todd McClay’s office regarding information they hold
in due course.

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
4