Gift Register for Steven Joyce's Ministerial Advisers

Alex Harris made this Official Information request to Department of Internal Affairs

The request was successful.

From: Alex Harris

Dear Department of Internal Affairs,

Thankyou for your response to my recent request for information on Ministerial Advisers in the office of Steven Joyce. I would like to request the following information under the Official Information Act 1982:

* Any policy on the acceptance of gifts and hospitality by Ministerial advisers.
* A list of the gifts and hospitality received by each Ministerial Adviser employed in the office of Steven Joyce over the past year. If you have an existing register, then I'd like a copy of it. If not, then I'd like you to compile one for me, showing all offers of gifts or hospitality valued at over $50, and in each case, the value of the offered gift, who it was offered to (obviously you should anonymise this to protect personal privacy; identifying them by job title is OK), whether it was accepted, and the business rationale for such acceptance (this is Treasury's scheme, and it seems appropriate for use here).

While there are privacy issues here, there is also a substantial public interest in disclosure. The Ombudsman has previously ruled in favour of disclosure of gift information for senior public servants below the Chief Executive level (e.g. Treasury), and I have no doubt they would make a similar ruling in the case of Ministerial Advisers.

I understand that this request may be more closely connected with the Minister's office rather than DIA, and so it may be transferred there.

I would prefer to receive an electronic response. Queries about this request will be automatically forwarded to me by the fyi.org.nz website.

With regards to s12 of the OIA, I am an NZ citizen and in NZ.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Harris

Link to this

From: Katrina Taylor
Department of Internal Affairs


Attachment Harris Signed Response.pdf
93K Download View as HTML

Attachment Gifts Benfits and Hospitality Policy.pdf
962K Download View as HTML


Dear Alex,

please find attached the response to your Official Information Act request.

Kind regards,

Katrina Taylor
Business and Secretariat Support
Ministerial and Secretariat Services
Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua
Bowen House, Parliament Buildings
Wellington, New Zealand
www.dia.govt.nz

==========================================================================
The information contained in this email message is for the attention of the intended recipient(s) only and 
is not necessarily the official view or communication of the Department of Internal Affairs.  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.
==========================================================================

-----Original Message-----
From: Alex Harris [mailto:[OIA #499 email]]
Sent: Friday, 17 August 2012 3:48 p.m.
To: Telephon Telephon
Subject: Official Information Act request - Gift Register for Steven Joyce's Ministerial Advisers

Dear Department of Internal Affairs,

Thankyou for your response to my recent request for information on
Ministerial Advisers in the office of Steven Joyce. I would like to
request the following information under the Official Information
Act 1982:

* Any policy on the acceptance of gifts and hospitality by
Ministerial advisers.
* A list of the gifts and hospitality received by each Ministerial
Adviser employed in the office of Steven Joyce over the past year.
If you have an existing register, then I'd like a copy of it. If
not, then I'd like you to compile one for me, showing all offers of
gifts or hospitality valued at over $50, and in each case, the
value of the offered gift, who it was offered to (obviously you
should anonymise this to protect personal privacy; identifying them
by job title is OK), whether it was accepted, and the business
rationale for such acceptance (this is Treasury's scheme, and it
seems appropriate for use here).

While there are privacy issues here, there is also a substantial
public interest in disclosure. The Ombudsman has previously ruled
in favour of disclosure of gift information for senior public
servants below the Chief Executive level (e.g. Treasury), and I
have no doubt they would make a similar ruling in the case of
Ministerial Advisers.

I understand that this request may be more closely connected with
the Minister's office rather than DIA, and so it may be transferred
there.

I would prefer to receive an electronic response. Queries about
this request will be automatically forwarded to me by the
fyi.org.nz website.

With regards to s12 of the OIA, I am an NZ citizen and in NZ.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Harris

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

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[OIA #499 email]

Is [DIA request email] the wrong address for Official Information Act
requests to Department of Internal Affairs? If so, please contact
us using this form:
http://fyi.org.nz/help/contact

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be
published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
http://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

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

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

====
CAUTION: This email message and any attachments contain information that may be confidential and may be LEGALLY PRIVILEGED. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, disclosure or copying of this message or attachments is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error please notify us immediately and erase all copies of the message and attachments. Thank you.
====

________________________________

====
CAUTION: This email message and any attachments contain information that may be confidential and may be LEGALLY PRIVILEGED. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, disclosure or copying of this message or attachments is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email message in error please notify us immediately and erase all copies of the message and attachments. Thank you.
====

hide quoted sections

Link to this

Things to do with this request

Anyone:
Department of Internal Affairs only: