Invoicing from members of the EAG

Jake Preston made this Official Information request to Toka Tū Ake – Natural Hazards Commission

The request was partially successful.

From: Jake Preston

Dear Earthquake Commission,

I would like copies of all invoices to EQC from members of the EAG from 15 September 2010 till now (27 February 2019).
Specifically this would include invoices from Dave Brunsdon (Kestrel Group Ltd), Barry Brown (Fraser Thomas Ltd), John Hare ( Holmes Consulting Group Ltd), John Snook (John Snook Consulting Ltd).

Yours faithfully,

Jake Preston

Link to this

From: Ministerial Services Team


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Kia ora Mr Preston,

 

Thank you for contacting the Earthquake Commission (EQC).

 

Your Official Information Act Request

I can confirm that the below email has been received and forwarded for the
attention of the appropriate team.

 

You will receive a response within 20 working days of your request.

 

Further Information

If you require more information, please visit [1]www.eqc.govt.nz or phone
0800 DAMAGE (0800 326 243) between 7am-9pm Monday-Friday and 9am-5pm on
Saturday.

 

Please ensure you include your claim number when you enquire.

 

Yours sincerely,

Katie

 

Katie Greene | Team Administrator | Government Relations | Risk &
Assurance

Earthquake Commission | Kōmihana Rūwhenua
DDI: 04 830 6104 | EXT: 9916 | Wellington
[2]cid:image001.jpg@01D189BA.FD31D980

 

 

From: Official Information Act Requests
Sent: Thursday, 28 February 2019 1:05 p.m.
To: Ministerial Services Team
Subject: FW: Official Information request - Invoicing from members of the
EAG

 

Hi Team

 

Can you please respond to the email below.

 

Thanks

 

Regards

 

 

Carolyn Bate | OIA Advisor | Canterbury and External Affairs 

Earthquake Commission | Kōmihana Rūwhenua

0800 DAMAGE | PO Box 311, Wellington 6140

[3]www.eqc.govt.nz

 

 

[4]Description: Description: Description: Description: Description:
cid:image001.jpg@01D189A0.F72206B0

 

 

 

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Jake Preston [mailto:[FOI #9694 email]]
Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2019 3:39 p.m.
To: EQC Info Mailbox
Subject: Official Information request - Invoicing from members of the EAG

 

Dear Earthquake Commission,

 

I would like copies of all invoices to EQC from members of the EAG from 15
September 2010 till now (27 February 2019).

Specifically this would include invoices from Dave Brunsdon (Kestrel Group
Ltd), Barry Brown (Fraser Thomas Ltd), John Hare ( Holmes Consulting Group
Ltd), John Snook (John Snook Consulting Ltd).

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Jake Preston

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

 

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[FOI #9694 email]

 

Is [EQC request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests to
Earthquake Commission? If so, please contact us using this form:

https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...

 

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

 

If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
This email message (along with any attachments) is intended only for the
addressee(s) named above.  The information contained in this email is
confidential to the New Zealand Earthquake Commission (EQC) and must not
be used, reproduced or passed on without consent.  If you have received
this email in error, informing EQC by return email or by calling (04)978
6400 should ensure the error is not repeated. 
Please delete this email if you are not the intended addressee.
************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

References

Visible links
1. http://www.eqc.govt.nz/
3. http://www.eqc.govt.nz/

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From: Ministerial Services Team


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Dear Mr Preston

 

Official information request for all invoices to EQC from members of the
EAG.

I refer to your official information request dated 27 February 2019 for;

‘I would like copies of all invoices to EQC from members of the EAG from
15 September 2010 till now (27 February 2019).

Specifically this would include invoices from Dave Brunsdon (Kestrel Group
Ltd), Barry Brown (Fraser Thomas Ltd), John Hare ( Holmes Consulting Group
Ltd), John Snook (John Snook Consulting Ltd).’

 

Your request as currently framed is showing to be very difficult to meet
without substantial collation or research. This is because these invoices
are located on several different systems depending on their age and
category. Unless your request is amended, we may have to refuse it under
section 18(f) of the OIA which applies where the information cannot be
made available without substantial collation or research.

Please let us know  whether you are prepared to amend or clarify your
request, and if so how. For example, advising a more specific timeframe or
specific invoices.

We would appreciate this clarification of your request so that we can more
accurately focus our search on the information you are seeking. Please
accept our apologies for the delay in requesting this clarification.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Bradley Martin | Advisor | Government Relations, Communications &
Stakeholders 

Earthquake Commission | Kômihana Rûwhenua

[1]www.eqc.govt.nz

 

[2]cid:image001.jpg@01D189A0.F72206B0

 

 

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
This email message (along with any attachments) is intended only for the
addressee(s) named above.  The information contained in this email is
confidential to the New Zealand Earthquake Commission (EQC) and must not
be used, reproduced or passed on without consent.  If you have received
this email in error, informing EQC by return email or by calling (04)978
6400 should ensure the error is not repeated. 
Please delete this email if you are not the intended addressee.
************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

References

Visible links
1. http://www.eqc.govt.nz/

hide quoted sections

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From: Jake Preston

Dear Ministerial Services Team,
I have requested what should be very simple to provide, and be within your records as you are required to keep invoices as part of your obligations in terms of tax and the public records act 2005. The option is that you provide the invoices as per your obligations under the Official Information Act, alternatively I can make another complaint to the ombudsman, about deliberate obfuscation of an OIA request by EQC, due to the culture within. I will also make a submission to the Inquiry, using this response as another of many responses used by EQC to try to defeat a legal request under the act. If the request is continued to be denied, I will ultimately make the request individually based on month to month invoicing of each and every engineer member of the EAG that EQC has paid. This will result in more than 400 requests for the information I have condensed into one single request. I do not believe that is in the spirit of the act nor is it representative of the cultural change that Sid Miller and Renee Walker are reporting to the Claimants Reference Group.

I expect that EQC will find the information and in the timeframes defined by the act.

Yours sincerely,

Jake Preston

Link to this

From: Ministerial Services Team


Attachment image001.jpg
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Attachment Information response.pdf
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Dear Mr Preston

 

Please find attached EQC’s response to your request for information.

 

Kind regards

 

Bradley Martin | Advisor | Government Relations, Communications &
Stakeholders 

Earthquake Commission | Kômihana Rûwhenua

[1]www.eqc.govt.nz

 

[2]cid:image001.jpg@01D189A0.F72206B0

 

 

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
This email message (along with any attachments) is intended only for the
addressee(s) named above.  The information contained in this email is
confidential to the New Zealand Earthquake Commission (EQC) and must not
be used, reproduced or passed on without consent.  If you have received
this email in error, informing EQC by return email or by calling (04)978
6400 should ensure the error is not repeated. 
Please delete this email if you are not the intended addressee.
************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

References

Visible links
1. http://www.eqc.govt.nz/

hide quoted sections

Link to this

From: Ministerial Services Team


Attachment ATT70141 1.jpg
9K Download


Dear Mr Preston
 
Following on from the response letter dated 27 March 2019 I can advise
that the first batch of invoices will be sent to you by 19 April 2019.
 
Kind regards
 
Bradley Martin | Advisor | Government Relations, Communications &
Stakeholders 
Earthquake Commission | Kōmihana Rūwhenua
[1]www.eqc.govt.nz
 
 
 
 
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Jake Preston
[[2]mailto:[FOI #9694 email]]
Sent: Thursday, 21 March 2019 6:32 p.m.
To: Ministerial Services Team
Subject: Re: Official Information Act (OIA) request
 
Dear Ministerial Services Team,
I have requested what should be very simple to provide, and be within your
records as you are required to keep invoices as part of your obligations
in terms of tax and the public records act 2005. The option is that you
provide the invoices as per your obligations under the Official
Information Act, alternatively I can make another complaint to the
ombudsman, about deliberate obfuscation of an OIA request by EQC, due to
the culture within. I will also make a submission to the Inquiry, using
this response as another of many responses used by EQC to try to defeat a
legal request under the act. If the request is continued to be denied, I
will ultimately make the request individually based on month to month
invoicing of each and every engineer member of the EAG that EQC has paid.
This will result in more than 400 requests for the information I have
condensed into one single request. I do not believe that is in the spirit
of the act nor is it representative of the cultural change that Sid Miller
and Renee Walker are reporting to the Claimants Reference Group.
 
I expect that EQC will find the information and in the timeframes defined
by the act.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Jake Preston
 
-----Original Message-----
 
Dear Mr Preston
 
 
 
Official information request for all invoices to EQC from members of the
EAG.
 
I refer to your official information request dated 27 February 2019 for;
 
‘I would like copies of all invoices to EQC from members of the EAG from
15 September 2010 till now (27 February 2019).
 
Specifically this would include invoices from Dave Brunsdon (Kestrel Group
Ltd), Barry Brown (Fraser Thomas Ltd), John Hare ( Holmes Consulting Group
Ltd), John Snook (John Snook Consulting Ltd).’
 
 
 
Your request as currently framed is showing to be very difficult to meet
without substantial collation or research. This is because these invoices
are located on several different systems depending on their age and
category. Unless your request is amended, we may have to refuse it under
section 18(f) of the OIA which applies where the information cannot be
made available without substantial collation or research.
 
Please let us know  whether you are prepared to amend or clarify your
request, and if so how. For example, advising a more specific timeframe or
specific invoices.
 
We would appreciate this clarification of your request so that we can more
accurately focus our search on the information you are seeking. Please
accept our apologies for the delay in requesting this clarification.
 
 
 
Kind Regards,
 
 
 
Bradley Martin | Advisor | Government Relations, Communications &
Stakeholders 
 
Earthquake Commission | Kômihana Rûwhenua
 
[1]www.eqc.govt.nz
 
 
 
[2]cid:image001.jpg@01D189A0.F72206B0
 
 
 
 
 
References
 
Visible links
1. [3]http://www.eqc.govt.nz/
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #9694 email]
 
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[4]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
 
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
This email message (along with any attachments) is intended only for the
addressee(s) named above.  The information contained in this email is
confidential to the New Zealand Earthquake Commission (EQC) and must not
be used, reproduced or passed on without consent.  If you have received
this email in error, informing EQC by return email or by calling (04)978
6400 should ensure the error is not repeated. 
Please delete this email if you are not the intended addressee.
************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

References

Visible links
1. http://www.eqc.govt.nz/
2. mailto:[FOI #9694 email]
3. http://www.eqc.govt.nz/
4. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

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Link to this

From: Ministerial Services Team


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Attachment Invoices batch 1.pdf
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Dear Mr Preston

 

Please find attached the first batch of material from your request for
information received on 27 February 2019.

 

Some information has been withheld from these documents under the
following sections of the Official Information Act 1982:

·         9(2)(a) if the withholding of the information is necessary to
protect the privacy of natural persons,

·         9(2)(b)(ii) if the withholding of the information is necessary
to protect information where the making available of the information would
be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person
who supplied or who is the subject of the information.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Bradley Martin | Advisor | Government Relations, Communications &
Stakeholders 

Earthquake Commission | Kōmihana Rūwhenua

[1]www.eqc.govt.nz

 

[2]cid:image001.jpg@01D189A0.F72206B0

 

 

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
This email message (along with any attachments) is intended only for the
addressee(s) named above.  The information contained in this email is
confidential to the New Zealand Earthquake Commission (EQC) and must not
be used, reproduced or passed on without consent.  If you have received
this email in error, informing EQC by return email or by calling (04)978
6400 should ensure the error is not repeated. 
Please delete this email if you are not the intended addressee.
************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

References

Visible links
1. http://www.eqc.govt.nz/

hide quoted sections

Link to this

From: Ministerial Services Team


Attachment image001.jpg
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Attachment Invoices batch 2.pdf
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Dear Mr Preston

 

Please find attached the second batch of material from your request for
information received on 27 February 2019.

 

The invoices attached are from Kestrel Group.  Some information has been
withheld from these documents under the following sections of the Official
Information Act 1982:

·         9(2)(a) if the withholding of the information is necessary to
protect the privacy of natural persons,

·         9(2)(b)(ii) if the withholding of the information is necessary
to protect information where the making available of the information would
be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person
who supplied or who is the subject of the information.

 

Please note we are working through extracting the invoices that are within
the scope of your request and you can expect to receive a number of
further batches of information.  Once we have made further progress with
sorting through the invoices we will have a clearer picture of the number
of batches required to fulfil your request, however, we expect to have the
next batch to you within the next two weeks. Please note also that due to
the large volume of invoices received from Tonkin and Taylor since 2010,
covering a wide variety of work (including claim specific invoices), these
have been excluded from our collation process and therefore will not be
part of the material released to you.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Bradley Martin | Advisor | Government Relations, Communications &
Stakeholders 

Earthquake Commission | Kōmihana Rūwhenua

[1]www.eqc.govt.nz

 

[2]cid:image001.jpg@01D189A0.F72206B0

 

 

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
This email message (along with any attachments) is intended only for the
addressee(s) named above.  The information contained in this email is
confidential to the New Zealand Earthquake Commission (EQC) and must not
be used, reproduced or passed on without consent.  If you have received
this email in error, informing EQC by return email or by calling (04)978
6400 should ensure the error is not repeated. 
Please delete this email if you are not the intended addressee.
************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

References

Visible links
1. http://www.eqc.govt.nz/

hide quoted sections

Link to this

From: Ministerial Services Team


Attachment image001.jpg
8K Download

Attachment Invoices batch 3.pdf
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Dear Mr Preston

 

Please find attached the third batch of material from your request for
information received on 27 February 2019.

 

Some information has been withheld from these documents under the
following sections of the Official Information Act 1982:

·         9(2)(a) if the withholding of the information is necessary to
protect the privacy of natural persons,

·         9(2)(b)(ii) if the withholding of the information is necessary
to protect information where the making available of the information would
be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person
who supplied or who is the subject of the information.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Bradley Martin | Advisor | Government Relations, Communications &
Stakeholders 

Earthquake Commission | Kōmihana Rūwhenua

[1]www.eqc.govt.nz

 

[2]cid:image001.jpg@01D189A0.F72206B0

 

 

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
This email message (along with any attachments) is intended only for the
addressee(s) named above.  The information contained in this email is
confidential to the New Zealand Earthquake Commission (EQC) and must not
be used, reproduced or passed on without consent.  If you have received
this email in error, informing EQC by return email or by calling (04)978
6400 should ensure the error is not repeated. 
Please delete this email if you are not the intended addressee.
************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

References

Visible links
1. http://www.eqc.govt.nz/

hide quoted sections

Link to this

From: Ministerial Services Team


Attachment image001.jpg
8K Download

Attachment Invoices batch 4.pdf
1.6M Download View as HTML


Dear Mr Preston

 

Please find attached the next batch of material from your request for
information received on 27 February 2019.

 

Some information has been withheld from these documents under the
following sections of the Official Information Act 1982:

·         9(2)(a) if the withholding of the information is necessary to
protect the privacy of natural persons,

·         9(2)(b)(ii) if the withholding of the information is necessary
to protect information where the making available of the information would
be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person
who supplied or who is the subject of the information.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Bradley Martin | Advisor | Government Relations, Communications &
Stakeholders 

Earthquake Commission | Kōmihana Rūwhenua

[1]www.eqc.govt.nz

 

[2]cid:image001.jpg@01D189A0.F72206B0

 

 

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
This email message (along with any attachments) is intended only for the
addressee(s) named above.  The information contained in this email is
confidential to the New Zealand Earthquake Commission (EQC) and must not
be used, reproduced or passed on without consent.  If you have received
this email in error, informing EQC by return email or by calling (04)978
6400 should ensure the error is not repeated. 
Please delete this email if you are not the intended addressee.
************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

References

Visible links
1. http://www.eqc.govt.nz/

hide quoted sections

Link to this

From: Ministerial Services Team


Attachment image001.jpg
8K Download

Attachment Invoices batch 5.pdf
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Dear Mr Preston

 

Please find attached the final batch  of invoices from your request for
information received on 27 February 2019.

 

Some information has been withheld from these documents under the
following sections of the Official Information Act 1982:

·         9(2)(a) if the withholding of the information is necessary to
protect the privacy of natural persons,

·         9(2)(b)(ii) if the withholding of the information is necessary
to protect information where the making available of the information would
be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person
who supplied or who is the subject of the information.

 

EQC has made every effort to retrieve all of the invoices that fall within
the scope of your request, and our searches have included electronic and
archived material. From the information available to us, we are confident
that all relevant invoices have been identified and provided to you, with
the exception of invoices from Tonkin and Taylor which, as we advised you
on 9 May 2019 were excluded from the search.

 

This response completes your request for information. You have the right
to ask the Ombudsman to investigate and review my decision. The Ombudsman
can be contacted at PO Box 10 152, Wellington 6143, or on Freephone 0800
802 602, or at [1]http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Bradley Martin | Advisor | Government Relations, Communications &
Stakeholders 

Earthquake Commission | Kōmihana Rūwhenua

[2]www.eqc.govt.nz

 

[3]cid:image001.jpg@01D189A0.F72206B0

 

 

 

 

 

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
This email message (along with any attachments) is intended only for the
addressee(s) named above.  The information contained in this email is
confidential to the New Zealand Earthquake Commission (EQC) and must not
be used, reproduced or passed on without consent.  If you have received
this email in error, informing EQC by return email or by calling (04)978
6400 should ensure the error is not repeated. 
Please delete this email if you are not the intended addressee.
************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

References

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1. http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
2. http://www.eqc.govt.nz/

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Things to do with this request

Anyone:
Toka Tū Ake – Natural Hazards Commission only: