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Ngā rauemi me ngā tānga

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97 Resources Show all

  • Request for draft responses to OIA requests

    Case notes
    Releasing draft OIA responses would be likely to inhibit the future free and frank expression of opinions—s 9(2)(g)(i) applies

  • Charge for supply of information about DOC Recommended Area for Protection

    Case notes
    Agency sought to recover cost of supplying information on the basis that it was commercially valuable—experts’ reports, submissions regarding the boundaries of the proposed Recommended Area for Protection, and deeds of agreement—no justification for charging on such a basis.

  • Request for advice and ‘think piece’ on reprioritisation or savings in Vote Education

    Case notes
    Disclosure of internal discussion documents and advice to Ministers would prejudice ongoing decision making process—disclosure of internal ‘think piece’ would inhibit future expression of free and frank opinions by officials—ss 9(2)(f)(iv) and 9(2)(g)(i) provide good reason to withhold

  • Request for draft briefings to the incoming government

    Case notes
    Disclosure of draft briefings to the incoming government would make officials reluctant to be so free and frank in expressing their initial and untested views and cause them to prefer less efficient and transparent verbal exchanges—section 9(2)(g)(i) applies

  • Charge for supply of information about community grants

    Case notes
    Cannot charge for time required due to administrative inefficiencies or poor record-keeping—public interest in MPs having access to official information to assist in the reasonable exercise of their democratic responsibilities warranted 10 per cent remission.

  • Request for report on suicide and the media

    Case notes
    Strong public interest in requester having access—participation in making of laws and policy— release on conditions

  • Charge for provision of information regarding trade negotiations

    Case notes
    Request for information on current GATS round—charge levied—GATS a matter of substantial public interest—information sought for research which would ultimately be made publicly available—release would promote informed public debate—charge found to be unreasonable—recommendation to waive charge accepted

  • Request for names and email addresses of people consulted on draft speech

    Case notes
    Recipients and senders of emails consulted—disclosure would not inhibit senior public servants from expressing free and frank opinions in future—however others would be inhibited

  • Request for comments on early draft cabinet papers

    Case notes
    Request for documents regarding Kyoto Protocol—information contained initial Treasury comments on draft versions of cabinet paper—part of informal consultation early in policy making process—concern that release would result in officials being less co-operative and formalise the process—withholding necessary to maintain effective conduct of public affairs

  • Request for information relating to an investigation into alleged destruction of documents held by NZDF

    Case notes
    Request for information relating to an investigation into alleged destruction of documents held by New Zealand Defence Force—information withheld to prevent prejudice to the outcome of those inquiries—s 6(c) applied at the time the request was refused—information later released due to change in circumstances

  • Request for communications between Chief of Defence Force and Prime Minister

    Case notes
    MP requested information on the restructuring of the NZDF—two letters from the Chief of Defence Force to the Prime Minister regarding draft reports withheld under s 9(2)(g)(i)—distinction between substantive comment about draft reports and minor editorial suggestions—substantive comments were recordings of Chief of Defence Force’s free and frank discussions with Prime Minister—part of Chief of Defence Force role is to advise Prime Minister but he would not have reduced comments to writing if he had thought they would be made public—free and frank comments needed to maintain constructive working relationship with Prime Minister—s 9(2)(g)(i) applied to substantive comments but not to remaining information

  • Request for details of prison security system

    Case notes
    Prison inmate sought details of prison security system and name of company who installed it—release would be likely to prejudice the integrity of system

  • Request to Police for information regarding alleged threats made against Judge

    Case notes
    Request for information provided to Police concerning alleged threats made by person/s connected with the requester’s family—refused on the basis that disclosure would reveal identity of the informant—mixture of ’personal information’ and ‘official information’—joint investigation with Privacy Commissioner

  • Request for early stage policy advice relating to paid parental leave

    Case notes
    Request for information relating to paid parental leave policy—information withheld to maintain collective ministerial responsibility, protect confidentiality of advice and free and frank exchange—in the circumstances no good reason to withhold

  • Request for minute from Chief of Air Staff to Chief of Defence Force

    Case notes
    Request for minute from Chief of Air Staff to Chief of Defence Force regarding return of aircraft to Samoa to uplift a civilian passenger—minute contained free and frank expressions of opinion—factual information and summary of opinions released—manner in which opinions expressed particularly frank—s 9(2)(g)(i) applied—public interest in release satisfied by release of summary

  • Request by shareholder of a company to the Securities Commission for a copy of a report of an investigation carried out on the company

    Case notes
    Request by a shareholder of a company to the Securities Commission for copy of a report of an investigation carried out on the company—information withheld to protect the maintenance of the law and obligations of confidence—test for withholding under s 6(c) not met—s 9(2)(ba)(i) provided good reason to withhold some information

  • Charge proposed for the supply of information relating to death of New Zealander overseas  

    Case notes
    Charge levied by Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade—reasonableness of charge—consistency with other charges levied for supply of similar information—public interest in reduction of charge—proposed charge unreasonable—charge reduced

  • Charge imposed without forewarning after the provision of the information

    Case notes
    Charge for official information—information belatedly made available—requester subsequently charged for the information—no entitlement to charge

  • Request for sentencing schedule database

    Case notes
    Request for sentencing schedule database—request declined—release of some information ‘would be likely’ to prejudice maintenance of the law—information released subject to deletions

  • Request for details of APEC security arrangements

    Case notes
    Request for details of APEC security arrangements declined—information withheld—disclosure would be likely to prejudice effectiveness of future security arrangements

  • Request by Land Transport Safety Authority to Police for details of ‘diversion’ of applicant seeking driver identification card

    Case notes
    Request by Land Transport Safety Authority to Police for details of ‘diversion’ of applicant for a driver identification card—request declined—disclosure would undermine purposes of ‘diversion scheme’—maintenance of the law

  • Charge for extracting information from Housing New Zealand’s database

    Case notes
    Estimate of charges to extract specific information from database—reasonableness of charge—absence of appropriately qualified staff—need to contract systems analyst—revised estimate provided—charge not unreasonable

  • Request for details of risk management processes

    Case notes
    Request for details of risk management processes—relevant documents provided apart from the ‘risk register’—register consisted of free and frank expressions of opinion—release might undermine risk management strategy—public interest met by release of Risk Management Policy

  • Request for health information about person charged with murder

    Case notes
    Request for information about care of patient by mental health services of person charged with murder—information withheld under s 6(c) to avoid prejudice to right to a fair trial

  • Charge levied by Ministry of Health for provision of information about contraceptive pills

    Case notes
    Charge levied by Ministry of Health for provision of information about contraceptive pills—release of the information would likely contribute significantly to the medical profession’s understanding of Ministry’s decision making process—charge waived on public interest grounds

  • Request for information relating to alleged violation of a hospital patient

    Case notes
    Request for information relating to alleged violation of a hospital patient—right to a fair trial—information withheld under s 6(c) pending outcome of legal proceedings—information released after proceedings concluded

  • Request for names of ‘eminent New Zealanders’ consulted during preparation of Intelligence and Security Agencies Bill

    Case notes
    Request for names of ‘eminent New Zealanders’ who were part of the consultative process in preparing the Intelligence and Security Agencies Bill—request refused under s 9(2)(g)(i) —individuals consulted—in respect of those who advised that disclosure would inhibit them from giving free and frank advice to the Government in future, section 9(2)(g)(i) applied—need to withhold outweighed by countervailing public interest

  • Request for communications between Minister of Finance and the Reserve Bank

    Case notes
    Request for communications between Minister of Finance and the Reserve Bank regarding economic growth, monetary policy and inflation outlook—information withheld under ss 6(e)(iv), 9(2)(d), 9(2)(f)(iv) and 9(2)(g)(i)—markets are extremely sensitive and react to the most subtle signals—if released, Reserve Bank would be likely to become more guarded about what was said at, and recorded after, meetings with Minister—s 9(2)(g)(i) applied and no countervailing public interest considerations which outweighed need to withhold

  • Charge estimated in accordance with CRI’s charging policy

    Case notes
    Charge levied by National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)—Crown Research Institutes’ policy on charging—reasonableness of recovery of actual retrieval costs—charge reasonable

  • Request for a copy of paper presented to Cabinet Strategy Committee

    Case notes
    Information deleted from position paper on pricing issues presented by ECNZ to Cabinet Strategy Committee—ss 9(2)(g)(i) and 9(2)(j) applied to some of the information—interest in withholding information in certain sections of the paper outweighed by strong public interest in disclosure—s 9(1)—electricity pricing has a direct widespread impact on a large number of New Zealanders

  • Request for information disclosed during confidential Ministerial briefing to sector group

    Case notes
    Request by Opposition for information disclosed during confidential Ministerial briefing to sector group—s 9(2)(g)(i)—effective conduct of public affairs—public interest balancing—accountability—need for transparency in Minister’s dealings with financial sector

  • Request for information relating to the setting up of the Special Committee on Nuclear Propulsion

    Case notes
    Request for information relating to the setting up of the Special Committee on Nuclear Propulsion—given the sensitivity of the nuclear propulsion issue and the context in which the information had been generated, the withholding of the information was necessary under ss 9(2)(f)(iv) and 9(2)(g)(i)—at the time of the review the balance of public interest favoured withholding the information requested—the overall public interest was better served in allowing the Special Committee to complete its review in an orderly manner