Dear New Zealand Defence Force,

Under the Official Information Act 1982, I make the following request. This is a fresh request prompted by a material change in circumstances since your response of 10 December 2024 (OIA-2024-5215), and is not a repeat of that request.
In that response, NZDF confirmed that a New Zealand representative attended the 24 May 2023 briefing given by Dr Sean Kirkpatrick of the US All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, and that the briefing information provided to NZDF is classified United States information, withheld in full under sections 6(a) and 6(b)(i) of the Act.
Since then, on 8 May 2026, the United States Department of War began publicly declassifying and releasing UAP records under its Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE) program, hosted at war.gov/ufo, with further tranches following. The originating government is now itself placing UAP material into the public domain.
I request the following:
A reassessment of the withholding in OIA-2024-5215. Both grounds relied on (s6(a) and s6(b)(i)) apply only where release "would be likely to prejudice" the relevant interest. Given that the United States is now publicly releasing UAP records of the kind previously treated as too sensitive to disclose, I ask NZDF to reassess whether release of the information withheld under OIA-2024-5215 would still be likely to prejudice those interests, and to release any part for which that threshold is no longer met.
Any communications between NZDF and United States agencies (including the Department of War, AARO, or ODNI) relating to the PURSUE program, from 1 February 2026 to the present, including whether New Zealand was notified in advance, consulted, or asked to review or clear New Zealand third-party equities prior to any release.
Any UAP-related correspondence, briefings, assessments, or records created or received by NZDF from 1 December 2024 to the present.
A description or schedule of the documents withheld in full under OIA-2024-5215, including the number of documents, their dates, their classification markings, and the originating agency, without disclosure of their classified content.
If any part of this request is refused, please state the specific ground under section 18 or section 6 of the Act, and for any section 6 withholding, please explain how release would be likely to prejudice the protected interest in light of the PURSUE releases. I would appreciate confirmation of receipt and an estimated timeframe within the statutory 20 working days.

Yours faithfully,

Andrew Arkins