12 April 2023
IR-01-23-6847
K Hudson
C/0 - fyi-reguest-22015-c4b61 [email address]
Tena koe K Hudson
Request for information
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 {OIA) request dated 6 March 2023 relating
to the national cannabis eradication programme.
You requested the annual spend each year for the past five years of the following:
1. Costs for helicopter use for aerial searching of cannabis
2.
Costs for Police staff for aerial searching of cannabis
3. Costs for Police staff for ground searching of cannabis.
4. If direct costs are not available, please provide the total time Police staff can
attribute to aerial and ground search and surveillance of cannabis.
In relation to the first part of your request, this information is withheld pursuant to
s9(2)(b)(ii) of the OIA because providing it would be likely to unreasonably prejudice the
commercial position of the person who supplied or who is the subject of the information.
In relation to requests 2 - 4, Police staff do not maintain timesheets of their activities on
an hourly or daily basis. This means it is not possible to retrieve or calculate costs for
Police staff to carry out aerial or ground searching of cannabis, or to provide the total time
Police staff can attribute to these activities without substantial collation and research.
Therefore, this part of your request is refused pursuant to s18(f) of the OIA.
We can provide the following information showing the total actual costs for the last five
years, noting that the 2022/23 financial year is not yet finalised.
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Financial Year
Actual
Note
2022/23
372,569
Financial year to date, to 20 March 2023
2021/22
548,838
12 months
2020/21
10,564
12 months
2019/20
1,022,174
12 months
2018/19
710,215
12 months
Police National Headquarters
180 Molesworth Street, Thorndon, Wellington SX11149
Telephone: (04) 474 9499. www.police.gcvt.n:z