Ombudsman Ron Paterson carried out an investigation of multiple complaints made by the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) against various decisions by the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) to withhold information redacted from some of the summaries of its decisions on consent applications for investment in sensitive New Zealand assets. These summaries are routinely published on its website.
Given the number of complaints under investigation, and that CAFCA would continue to make requests for this information, the Ombudsman met with CAFCA and the OIO with a view to discussing the approach to making requests and the decision-making process. This led to a review by the OIO of its procedures and a revised decision in respect of information withheld from many of the summaries, with acceptance that in many cases the ‘consideration’ or price paid by an applicant for OIO consent, could be released.
In a few cases, the Ombudsman found that it was necessary to withhold information the OIO had redacted on grounds that it would unreasonably prejudice the commercial position of the applicants (OIA s 9(2)(b)(ii)) or to protect the privacy of named individuals (OIA, s 9(2)(a)), in circumstances where there was no over-riding public interest in disclosure.