I
11 October 2023
Reference 2324-0586
Amin
[FYI request #24130 email]
Tēnā koe Amin
Thank you for writing to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) on 13 September
2023, to request the following, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA):
•
the total amount of funding allocated for the development of Te Reo in your ministry and
affiliated organizations since the beginning of the new government in 2020, along with a
breakdown of how this allocated funding has been utilized or distributed.’
Te Reo Māori is an official language of Aotearoa New Zealand and an important part of our identity,
history and culture.
MBIE staff have the option to gain and strengthen their proficiency in Te Reo Māori as part of the
personal and professional development. This includes the provision of Te Reo courses for staff tailored to
their existing skill levels.
MBIE’s actions in this area are consistent with our commitment to Whāinga Amorangi, which was
developed by the Office for Māori-Crown relations Te Arawhiti to help Chief Executives meet
responsibilities under the Public Service Act 2020.
Whāinga Amorang
i is a cross-agency strategy to ensure government departments have the capability to
work in partnership with Māori, so as an agency our relationship with Māori is enduring and consistent.
Whāinga Amorangi was developed by Te Arawhiti, alongside Te Puni Kokiri and Te Kawa Mataaho. It
enables agencies to focus on key Māori Crown capabilities, including the uplift of Te Reo Māori.
We recognise our people are at different stages of their journey and will require different levels of
support to build their capability in Māori–Crown relations.
We provide individual teams with funding to ensure to meet their wider training and development needs,
including for the development and uptake of Te Reo Māori by staff. The decisions on which training areas
to prioritise, and how this money is spent is made by individual business groups.
Your request
I am refusing your request around the breakdown and utilisation of funding using the administrative
grounds in section 18(f) of the OIA, due to the substantial collation required to provide a response. In
order to collate the total value of funding across this work item, we would need to open and inspect
invoices across a three year period, to determine the entire amount of funding for this particular work
item.
My decision to use section 18(f) of the OIA, is based on the following reasons:
• No document containing the information you have requested existed at MBIE at the time you
submitted your request, nor did MBIE have an internal reporting need to collect it; and
• this information is contained in our financial management system, which is intended to record
spending on all types of spending on training and development for MBIE staff, and the work
required to collate and analyse individual invoices to provide this breakdown would place a
significant burden on Ministry resources.
For your reference, funding is provided to our business groups to address their individual training needs
from our wider Learning and Development budget, and it’s up to individual groups how they spend this
money.
MBIE’s official spending record is contained in our annual responses to Parliament’s Economic
Development, Science and Innovation Select Committee. You can find links to prior years’ responses to
questions the Select Committee has asked of MBIE at the following addresses:
• Information for the period 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022, at
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/submissions-and-advice/all?custom=FINS_127454
• Information for the period 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2022, at
https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-
NZ/53SCED_EVI_119680_ED8677/573aa78d1133b7e199cc955f8a98fdd63723512c
Please note, the information in Annual Review material is current to 30 June 2022. A new set of Annual
Review responses for Select Committee for the period ending 30 June 2023 is currently being produced,
and will be published on Parliament’s website, likely at the end of this year.
Thank you again for your request. Section 28(3) of the OIA gives you the right to refer my response to an
Ombudsman for review. You can find more about this by calling 0800 802 602, or by emailing
[email address]. Nāku noa, nā
Jennifer Nathan
Chief People Officer
People and Culture
Corporate Services, Finance and Enablement
