[IN CONFIDENCE RELEASE EXTERNAL]
15 September 2022
Harry Peterson
[FYI request #19806 email]
Dear Harry Peterson
Thank you for your request made under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA), partially
transferred to Inland Revenue from the Cabinet Office on 24 August 2022.
On 2 July, you requested the following from the Cabinet Office:
“I am requesting, pursuant to the statue created under the Official Information Act
1982, a record of times ‘Whangārei’, or ‘Whangarei’, has been mentioned in Cabinet
papers from the date beginning 26 October 2017 to present.
I am also requesting copies of documentation/ discussion on the topic of Whangārei
/ Whangarei’, from said Cabinet minutes, presentations, documents, or other
materials.”
On 14 July, the Cabinet Office contacted you to seek refinement of your request, due to
the broad scope of your original request. You agreed to refine your request to:
“Only the mention of Whangārei pertaining to funding decisions within Cabinet.”
On 14 July, the Cabinet Office contacted you for a second time to seek further refinement
of your request, as there was still a substantial amount of material potentially within scope
of your clarified request. You agreed to further refine your request to include:
“All documents and Cabinet papers mentioning Whangārei in relation to
infrastructure and health funding decisions from the date beginning October 2017.”
Inland Revenue has considered the documents stored on the secure platform for
supporting Cabinet and Cabinet committee processes. There were no documents within
the Revenue portfolio since 2017 that mention Whangārei/ Whangarei in relation to
infrastructure and health funding decisions.
I have therefore decided to refuse your request under section 18(e) of the OIA as the
documents you have requested do not exist.
Right of review
If you disagree with my decision on your OIA request, you can ask an Inland Revenue
review officer to review my decision. To ask for an internal review, please email the
Commissioner of Inland Revenue a
t: [email address]. Alternatively, under section 28(3) of the OIA, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman
to investigate and review my decision. You can contact the office of the Ombudsman by
email at:
[email address]. Choosing the internal right of review does not preclude you from subsequently seeking a
review by the Ombudsman.
Ref: 23OIA1262
www.ird.govt.nz
[IN CONFIDENCE RELEASE EXTERNAL]
Publishing of OIA response
Please note that Inland Revenue regularly publishes responses to requests that may be of
interest to the wider public on its website. We consider this response is of public interest
so will publish this response in due course. Your personal details or any information that
would identify you will be removed prior to it being published.
Thank you again for your request.
Yours sincerely
Josh Green
Domain Lead, Governance and Ministerial Services
Ref: 23OIA1262