Official Information Act request — Follow-up to OIA-2025-5622 (NZDF training scenario "Visayan People's Front")
Joshua Riley made this Official Information request to New Zealand Defence Force
Currently waiting for a response from New Zealand Defence Force, they must respond promptly and normally no later than (details and exceptions).
From: Joshua Riley
Dear NZDF Information Request team,
I write under the Official Information Act 1982 to seek information that follows on from, and does not duplicate, OIA-2025-5622 (response provided by Brigadier Grant Motley on 5 February 2026 to S.E. Shaw, FYI request 33328).
That response confirmed that the Visayan People's Front (VPF) scenario, drawn from the Decisive Action Training Environment (DATE), was incorporated into a Stability and Support Operations training scenario developed by 2/1 RNZIR in August 2023, and subsequently used on the 3 RTW Junior NCO Course in 2025 and on Exercises Urban Warrior, Cassino, and Belesia Stability. It also confirmed that, following a review, the Army has directed the removal from training scenarios of actors not contained within the DATE-world.
I welcome the Army's directed removal of non-DATE actors from training scenarios, as referred to in OIA-2025-5622. The questions below seek to understand the basis and scope of that decision so the public can have confidence in the transition. The questions seek information not addressed in the previous response.
On the geographic localisation of the scenario
1. The training material used in the 3 RTW Junior NCO Course included place names from New Zealand's South Island — including Murchison, Nelson, St Arnaud, and Rainbow Ski Field — applied to the geography of the fictional country of Belesia. Please confirm whether these New Zealand place names:
a. Were imported directly from the DATE source material; or
b. Were added or substituted by NZDF personnel during the development of the 2/1 RNZIR scenario in August 2023, or at any subsequent point.
2. If New Zealand place names were added by NZDF personnel (option 1(b) above), please provide:
a. The unit responsible for the addition;
b. Any written rationale for the addition;
c. Any record of approval of the addition by senior leadership.
On the review and its findings
3. The 5 February 2026 response refers to a review that has directed "the removal of actors in training scenarios that are not contained within the DATE-world." Please provide:
a. The date the review was initiated;
b. The unit or position that initiated the review;
c. The terms of reference of the review;
d. The written report or findings of the review (or, if a written report was not produced, the document recording the directed outcome);
e. Any written record of the actors or scenario elements that were identified for removal.
4. Please confirm whether the directed removal of "actors not contained within the DATE-world" includes the New Zealand place names referred to in question 1, or whether it relates solely to other elements of the scenario.
On the original 2023 scenario development
5. When 2/1 RNZIR developed the SASO scenario in August 2023, was that scenario reviewed for cultural, religious, or political appropriateness before deployment in training? If so, please provide:
a. A copy of the review framework or policy applied at that time;
b. The unit or position that conducted the review;
c. The outcome of the review.
6. If no such review was conducted at the time of the 2023 development, please confirm that fact.
On the Christchurch context
7. The royal commission of inquiry into the 15 March 2019 terrorist attack on the Christchurch mosques made findings about the framing of threat in New Zealand's national security architecture. When 2/1 RNZIR developed a scenario in August 2023 in which a predominantly Christian group is in armed conflict with a Muslim immigrant community, was any consideration given to the implications of that framing in light of the Christchurch attacks and the royal commission findings? If so, please provide any documents recording that consideration.
On future use
8. Will the VPF scenario, in any form, continue to be used in NZDF training in 2026 or beyond? If so, please indicate the exercises or courses in which it is scheduled or proposed to be used.
9. Has the assurance work referred to in the 5 February 2026 response — to confirm coherence across the fictional training environment — been completed? If so, please provide its findings. If not, please indicate the expected completion date.
On comparable scenarios
10. Has NZDF used training scenarios in 2024 or 2025 in which the opposing force is identified by reference to:
a. Islamic or Muslim religious affiliation;
b. Affiliation with a specific real-world political movement, ideology, or party;
c. A specific ethnic or cultural identity?
If so, please provide for each scenario the name of the exercise, the date, the opposing-force description, and any New Zealand-specific localisation that was applied.
Procedural matters
I request that information be provided in electronic form. Where information is to be withheld, please cite the specific section of the OIA relied upon. Where information is withheld in part, please indicate clearly what has been withheld.
I am happy to discuss narrowing or clarifying any question that would assist a timely response within the 20-working-day statutory period.
I confirm that this request and any response will be publicly available via FYI.org.nz. I confirm I am a New Zealand citizen ordinarily resident in New Zealand.
From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Defence Force
Good morning Joshua
Your request below has been received and a decision on your request will be provided as soon as possible and no later than 4 June 2026. Responses to requests for information that are considered to be in the wider public interest will be published on the New Zealand Defence Force website (www.nzdf.mil.nz).
Regards
Corporate and Ministerial Services
Office of the Chief of Defence Force
New Zealand Defence Force | Te Ope Kātua o Aotearoa
www.nzdf.mil.nz
-----Original Message-----
From: Joshua Riley <[FOI #34618 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 6 May 2026 9:19 am
To: Ministerial Services <[NZDF request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - Official Information Act request — Follow-up to OIA-2025-5622 (NZDF training scenario "Visayan People's Front")
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Dear NZDF Information Request team,
I write under the Official Information Act 1982 to seek information that follows on from, and does not duplicate, OIA-2025-5622 (response provided by Brigadier Grant Motley on 5 February 2026 to S.E. Shaw, FYI request 33328).
That response confirmed that the Visayan People's Front (VPF) scenario, drawn from the Decisive Action Training Environment (DATE), was incorporated into a Stability and Support Operations training scenario developed by 2/1 RNZIR in August 2023, and subsequently used on the 3 RTW Junior NCO Course in 2025 and on Exercises Urban Warrior, Cassino, and Belesia Stability. It also confirmed that, following a review, the Army has directed the removal from training scenarios of actors not contained within the DATE-world.
I welcome the Army's directed removal of non-DATE actors from training scenarios, as referred to in OIA-2025-5622. The questions below seek to understand the basis and scope of that decision so the public can have confidence in the transition. The questions seek information not addressed in the previous response.
On the geographic localisation of the scenario
1. The training material used in the 3 RTW Junior NCO Course included place names from New Zealand's South Island — including Murchison, Nelson, St Arnaud, and Rainbow Ski Field — applied to the geography of the fictional country of Belesia. Please confirm whether these New Zealand place names:
a. Were imported directly from the DATE source material; or b. Were added or substituted by NZDF personnel during the development of the 2/1 RNZIR scenario in August 2023, or at any subsequent point.
2. If New Zealand place names were added by NZDF personnel (option 1(b) above), please provide:
a. The unit responsible for the addition; b. Any written rationale for the addition; c. Any record of approval of the addition by senior leadership.
On the review and its findings
3. The 5 February 2026 response refers to a review that has directed "the removal of actors in training scenarios that are not contained within the DATE-world." Please provide:
a. The date the review was initiated;
b. The unit or position that initiated the review; c. The terms of reference of the review; d. The written report or findings of the review (or, if a written report was not produced, the document recording the directed outcome); e. Any written record of the actors or scenario elements that were identified for removal.
4. Please confirm whether the directed removal of "actors not contained within the DATE-world" includes the New Zealand place names referred to in question 1, or whether it relates solely to other elements of the scenario.
On the original 2023 scenario development
5. When 2/1 RNZIR developed the SASO scenario in August 2023, was that scenario reviewed for cultural, religious, or political appropriateness before deployment in training? If so, please provide:
a. A copy of the review framework or policy applied at that time; b. The unit or position that conducted the review; c. The outcome of the review.
6. If no such review was conducted at the time of the 2023 development, please confirm that fact.
On the Christchurch context
7. The royal commission of inquiry into the 15 March 2019 terrorist attack on the Christchurch mosques made findings about the framing of threat in New Zealand's national security architecture. When 2/1 RNZIR developed a scenario in August 2023 in which a predominantly Christian group is in armed conflict with a Muslim immigrant community, was any consideration given to the implications of that framing in light of the Christchurch attacks and the royal commission findings? If so, please provide any documents recording that consideration.
On future use
8. Will the VPF scenario, in any form, continue to be used in NZDF training in 2026 or beyond? If so, please indicate the exercises or courses in which it is scheduled or proposed to be used.
9. Has the assurance work referred to in the 5 February 2026 response — to confirm coherence across the fictional training environment — been completed? If so, please provide its findings. If not, please indicate the expected completion date.
On comparable scenarios
10. Has NZDF used training scenarios in 2024 or 2025 in which the opposing force is identified by reference to:
a. Islamic or Muslim religious affiliation; b. Affiliation with a specific real-world political movement, ideology, or party; c. A specific ethnic or cultural identity?
If so, please provide for each scenario the name of the exercise, the date, the opposing-force description, and any New Zealand-specific localisation that was applied.
Procedural matters
I request that information be provided in electronic form. Where information is to be withheld, please cite the specific section of the OIA relied upon. Where information is withheld in part, please indicate clearly what has been withheld.
I am happy to discuss narrowing or clarifying any question that would assist a timely response within the 20-working-day statutory period.
I confirm that this request and any response will be publicly available via FYI.org.nz. I confirm I am a New Zealand citizen ordinarily resident in New Zealand.
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