Request for clarification regarding OIA-2025/26-0798
Andrew Arkins made this Official Information request to Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
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From: Andrew Arkins
Dear Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
Thank you for DPMC’s response dated 16 June 2026 regarding OIA-2025/26-0798.
I note that DPMC refused the request under section 18(g) of the Official Information Act on the basis that it holds no relevant material, and that it has no grounds for believing such information is held by, or more closely connected with the functions of, another agency.
Before deciding whether to seek a review by the Ombudsman, I would appreciate clarification about the searches and enquiries undertaken to reach that conclusion.
Specifically, could DPMC please confirm:
Which business units, teams, offices, and information repositories were searched.
Whether the National Security Group and National Assessments Bureau were consulted directly.
Whether staff responsible for the National Security Intelligence Priorities process were consulted.
Which search terms and variants were used, including whether searches covered terms such as:
UAP
UFO
unidentified anomalous phenomena
unidentified aerial phenomena
AARO
Five Eyes UAP Caucus
FVEY UAP
PURSUE
air-domain awareness
anomalous observations
space-domain awareness
Whether searches covered email systems, document-management systems, ministerial briefings, meeting records, calendar entries, internal messaging systems, intelligence assessments, and inter-agency correspondence.
Whether records were searched by reference to the date of the Five Eyes Inaugural UAP Caucus Working Group, 24 May 2023, rather than only by topic label.
Whether DPMC consulted NZDF, GCSB, NZSIS, MFAT, the Ministry of Defence, or any other agency before concluding that there were no grounds to transfer any part of the request under section 14.
How DPMC reconciled that conclusion with NZDF’s written confirmation that a New Zealand representative attended the Five Eyes Inaugural UAP Caucus Working Group at the Pentagon on 24 May 2023.
I am not asking DPMC to create new substantive information. I am seeking clarification about the reasonable searches, enquiries, and transfer considerations undertaken in reaching the section 18(g) decision.
I would appreciate a response within a reasonable timeframe.
Kind regards,
Andrew Arkins
From: Information [DPMC]
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
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From: Information [DPMC]
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
[IN-CONFIDENCE]
Kia ora,
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA)
received on 16 June 2026, copied below. We will respond to your request
within the statutory timeframes set out in the Act. If we are unable to
meet these timeframes, we will notify you.
Your request will be managed by the Ministerial Services team within DPMC.
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact us at
[DPMC request email].
DPMC may publish the response to your OIA request. If we publish the
response, your personal information, including your name and contact
details, will be removed.
Ngâ mihi,
Ministerial Coordinator
Ministerial Services
Strategy, Governance and Engagement
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
E [DPMC request email]
The information contained in this email message is for the attention of
the intended recipient only and is not necessarily the official view or
communication of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. If you
are not the intended recipient you must not disclose, copy or distribute
this message or the information in it. If you have received this message
in error, please destroy the email and notify the sender immediately.
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From: Information [DPMC]
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
[UNCLASSIFIED]
Kia ora
Please find attached a letter regarding your recent OIA request.
Ngā mihi
Ministerial Coordinator
Ministerial Services
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
E [1][DPMC request email]
The information contained in this email message is for the attention of
the intended recipient only and is not necessarily the official view or
communication of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. If you
are not the intended recipient you must not disclose, copy or distribute
this message or the information in it. If you have received this message
in error, please destroy the email and notify the sender immediately.
Link: [2]File-List
Link: [3]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [4]themeData
Link: [5]colorSchemeMapping
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The information contained in this email message is for the attention of
the intended recipient only and is not necessarily the official view or
communication of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. If you
are not the intended recipient you must not disclose, copy or distribute
this message or the information in it. If you have received this message
in error, please destroy the email and notify the sender immediately.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[DPMC request email]
mailto:[DPMC request email]
2. file:///tmp/Signature_files/filelist.xml
3. file:///tmp/Signature_files/editdata.mso
4. file:///tmp/Signature_files/themedata.thmx
5. file:///tmp/Signature_files/colorschememapping.xml
6. file:///tmp/Signature_files/filelist.xml
7. file:///tmp/Signature_files/editdata.mso
8. file:///tmp/Signature_files/themedata.thmx
9. file:///tmp/Signature_files/colorschememapping.xml
From: Andrew Arkins
Dear Information [DPMC],
Hi Jeremy,
Thank you for your clarification of 25 June 2026. It has surfaced a defect in the search that I must ask DPMC to remedy before I decide whether to seek the Ombudsman's review.
Your response states that DPMC's searches covered the period from 12 March 2024 to 5 June 2026. My request concerns the Five Eyes Inaugural UAP Caucus Working Group held at the Pentagon on 24 May 2023, and the records connected to it. The search period you describe begins more than nine months after that event. A search that starts in March 2024 cannot, by its own scope, capture records created around a meeting held in May 2023. That includes invitations, briefings, the New Zealand contribution or update, and any reporting or correspondence from that period.
The basis you give for the start date does not cure the defect, and the request you rely on makes the problem worse. You point to the earlier request OIA-2023/24-0650, received on 12 March 2024, as having covered the prior period. That request was a broad topic request covering UAP matters from 2010 onward. It did not reference the 24 May 2023 caucus, and it did not use the specific terms I have provided, including Five Eyes UAP Caucus, FVEY UAP, AARO, and PURSUE. It was refused under section 18(e), on the basis that the information does not exist or cannot be found. We now know, from United States records and from the New Zealand Defence Force's written confirmation, that the caucus occurred and that a New Zealand representative attended. A prior null result on the same subject, produced by a less specific search, cannot demonstrate that the present search was adequate. It tends to show the opposite, that the relevant records have been missed more than once. The reasonable period for this request is the period in which the relevant records would exist, which plainly includes May 2023.
I therefore ask DPMC to conduct a fresh search covering, at a minimum, 1 January 2023 to the present, using the search terms and variants set out in my correspondence of 16 June 2026, and by reference to the date 24 May 2023, across email, document-management systems, ministerial briefings, meeting records, calendar entries, internal messaging, and intelligence assessment holdings.
I also ask DPMC to confirm whether the National Assessments Bureau conducted an actual search of its holdings for that period, as distinct from confirming that it was not presently aware of relevant information. Awareness in 2026 is not a search of 2023 records.
This bears directly on DPMC's conclusion under section 18(g) that it had no grounds to believe the information is held by, or more closely connected with the functions of, another agency. In its response OIA-2024-5215, the New Zealand Defence Force confirmed in writing that a New Zealand representative attended the 24 May 2023 briefing on New Zealand's behalf, and that NZDF holds briefing information from the meeting, which it withheld under sections 6(a) and 6(b)(i). That is direct, documented confirmation that a named New Zealand agency holds relevant information. It was known to me, and raised in my correspondence, before DPMC finalised its conclusion. DPMC's position that it has no grounds to believe the information is held elsewhere cannot be reconciled with that confirmation, and it is a reason DPMC should have considered transfer under section 14 to NZDF.
If DPMC declines to search the correct period, or again locates nothing after doing so, I will seek the Ombudsman's review under section 28(3), and this exchange will form part of that complaint.
Kind regards,
Andrew Arkins
From: Information [DPMC]
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Kia ora,
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) received on 25 June 2026, copied below. We will respond to your request within the statutory timeframes set out in the Act. If we are unable to meet these timeframes, we will notify you.
Your request will be managed by the Ministerial Services team within DPMC. If you have any queries, please feel free to contact us at [DPMC request email].
DPMC may publish the response to your OIA request. If we publish the response, your personal information, including your name and contact details, will be removed.
Ngā mihi,
Ministerial Coordinator
Ministerial Services
Strategy, Governance and Engagement
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
E [DPMC request email]
The information contained in this email message is for the attention of the intended recipient only and is not necessarily the official view or communication of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. If you are not the intended recipient you must not disclose, copy or distribute this message or the information in it. If you have received this message in error, please destroy the email and notify the sender immediately.
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From: Information [DPMC]
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
[UNCLASSIFIED]
Kia ora,
Please see the attached letter regarding your recent OIA request.
Ngā mihi,
Ministerial Coordinator
Ministerial Services
Corporate
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
E [1][DPMC request email]
The information contained in this email message is for the attention of
the intended recipient only and is not necessarily the official view or
communication of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. If you
are not the intended recipient you must not disclose, copy or distribute
this message or the information in it. If you have received this message
in error, please destroy the email and notify the sender immediately.
Link: [2]File-List
Link: [3]Edit-Time-Data
Link: [4]themeData
Link: [5]colorSchemeMapping
show quoted sections
The information contained in this email message is for the attention of
the intended recipient only and is not necessarily the official view or
communication of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. If you
are not the intended recipient you must not disclose, copy or distribute
this message or the information in it. If you have received this message
in error, please destroy the email and notify the sender immediately.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[DPMC request email]
2. file:///tmp/Signature_files/filelist.xml
3. file:///tmp/Signature_files/editdata.mso
4. file:///tmp/Signature_files/themedata.thmx
5. file:///tmp/Signature_files/colorschememapping.xml
6. file:///tmp/Signature_files/filelist.xml
7. file:///tmp/Signature_files/editdata.mso
8. file:///tmp/Signature_files/themedata.thmx
9. file:///tmp/Signature_files/colorschememapping.xml
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