19 July 2023
45 Pipitea Street
Thorndon, Wel ington
Phone +64 4 495 7200
dia.govt.nz
Luke
fyi-request-23116-
[email address]
Tēnā koe Luke
Your Official Information Act request of 13 June 2023 - OIA 2223 - 0930
Thank you for your email of 13 June 2023 to the Department of Internal Affairs (the
Department) requesting the fol owing information under the Official Information Act 1982
(the Act):
“1. Please release all Local Government briefing papers in their entirety which were
presented to the Minister of Local Government (Nanaia Mahuta) between the dates of
01 January 2020 and 31 July 2021 and where the Three Waters Reforms was the
subject.
2. In a Local Government Briefing dated 26 February 2021 and titled "Three Waters
Review: Maori rights and interests", the Department of Internal Affairs referred to te ao
Maori rights in water. Specifically, in paragraph 9, it said "From a te ao Maori
consideration of water issues, the proposed reform of three waters service delivery
arrangements is narrowly focused…". Paragraph 10 then goes on to summarise the
results.
2.1 Could you please release the details of that "te ao Maori consideration", what
it contains, how it was conducted and who it was conducted by (e.g., Iwi,
Department officials or someone else)?
3. Was anyone outside of the Department of Internal Affairs involved in the "Te Ao
Maori Technical Working Group" for three waters? If so, what agencies?
4. Please release the "specific advice" that the Technical Working Group provided DIA
as mentioned in paragraphs 13 and 49.”
On 19 June we contacted you to clarify the scope of parts one and two of your request. We
also referred you to archived documentation and general information regarding water
services reform available on the Department’s website. You responded on 20 June 2023 with
the fol owing clarification:
“
Regarding Part 1: Your advice to search the archived documentation was genuinely helpful and is
sufficient to meet that part of my OIA request.
Regarding Part 2:
By "details", I am looking for documentation containing consideration and/or analysis
of the te ao Maori water issues (from the Hui-a-Motu report or elsewhere) that DIA
considered before producing the 26/02/21 LBG. In other words, I am trying to find the
analysis which DIA referenced in paragraph [9].”
With respect to the clarified part 2 of your request, a tranche of documentation with
information about the Hui-a-motu is publicly available in the section titled
Iwi/Māori
Engagement (October 2020) here
:
www.dia.govt.nz/Archived-Three-Waters-Reform-Programme-information#Iwi Additionally, we have identified further information in scope contained in the 14 June 2021
Cabinet Paper,
Protecting and Promoting iwi Māori rights and interests in the new three
waters service delivery model publicly available the following link:
www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/Files/three-waters-reform-programme-2021/$file/Cabinet-
Paper-Protecting-and-promoting-iwi-maori-rights-and-interests-in-the-new-three-waters-
service-delivery-model-paper-three-14-June-2021.pdf
You may also find the fol owing link helpful:
www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/Files/three-waters-reform-programme-
2021/$file/Appendices-A-B-and-C-Protecting-and-promoting-iwi-Māori-rights-and-
interests.pdf
Please note the general information regarding the process of incorporating Te Ao Māori
consideration in paragraphs 10-18 of the
Local Government Briefing Three Waters Review:
Māori rights and interests 26 February 2021 referred to in your request.
As the information in scope is available on the links provided above, part two of your request
is refused in accordance with section 18(d) of the Act as the information requested is
publicly available.
With respect to parts three and four of your request we can confirm that no agencies
outside of the Department were involved in the Te Ao Māori Technical Working Group
referred to above.
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This working group consisted of internal advisors whose specific advice was used in the
initial stages of the water reform policy development process and drafted into the content in
the publicly available policy documentation noted above. Further searches have not
identified any additional information relating to advice provided by the
Te Ao Maori
Technical Working Group referred to in this request.
Therefore, this aspect of your request is refused under section 18(g)(i) of the Act as the
information requested is not held by the department and there are no grounds for believing
that the information is connected more closely with the functions of another department,
interdepartmental venture or Minister of the Crown or organisation or of a local authority.
For additional information on Te Ao Māori considerations relating to water resources, you
may choose to visit the Ministry for the Environment’s website. The Kāhui Wai Māori Report
to the Hon David Parker, the Minister for the Environment, on Iwi/Māori engagement has
provided many key principles and guidelines for Te Ao Māori considerations in policy and
programme development related to water resources. The report can be found here:
www.environment.govt.nz/publications/te-mana-o-te-wai-the-health-of-our-wai-the-health-
of-our-nation-kahui-wai-maori-report-to-hon-minister-david-parker/
You have the right, under section 28(3) of the Act, to make a complaint to an Ombudsman
and seek an investigation and review of our decision on your request. The contact address is
- Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143. Alternatively, you can phone
0800 802 602 or em
ail [email address]. Nāku noa, nā
Rashad Saeedi
Manager, Ministerial Services
Waters Services Reform Programme
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