Questions in regards charity that doesn't file annual returns
Mohammed Khan made this Official Information request to Department of Internal Affairs
The request was partially successful.
From: Mohammed Khan
Dear DIA,
Please direct this to Charities Services. The 'New Zealand Jewish Council', an zionist lobby group, was registered as a charity nearly four years ago.
Since then, it has not submitted a single annual return as required by the Charities Act 2005.That it was allowed under Section 43 to not submit a return for the period 20 June 2021-30 June 2021 is normal. The continued lack of returns is not. The only exemption listed when searching the Charities Services database is that original exemption for FY2021.
1) What, if any, exemptions to the Charities Act have been granted to this organization? Please provide all documents related to any such decisions.
2) If exemptions have not been granted, why has this group not been de-registered as a charity for lack of compliance? Please provide all documents related to any such decisions.
3) If exemptions have been granted, is there any other charity that has been granted the same or similar exemptions under Section 43, and which charities are allowed such exemptions?
Cheers,
Mohammed
From: SDO Official Correspondence
Department of Internal Affairs
Tçnâ koe Mohammed,
Thank you for your OIA request to the Department of Internal Affairs.
The Department will provide its response to your request as soon as
practicable and within twenty working days. The 20^th working day is 11
March 2024.
Please note that in cases where the Department’s response provides
information that is identified to be of general public interest, the
response may also be published on the Department of Internal Affairs
website. If the Department publishes its response to your OIA request, all
personal information, including your name and contact details, will be
removed.
Ngâ mihi
Huey Lim| Advisor Official Correspondence
Te Pâhekoheko, Kâwai ki te iwi | Operations, Service Delivery and
Operations
Te Tari Taiwhenua The Department of Internal Affairs
[1]www.dia.govt.nz
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From: Compliance
Department of Internal Affairs
Kia ora Mohammed
Thank you for your request for information in relation to the New Zealand
Jewish Council (“NZJC”)
We are currently working to gather the information you have requested, and
I wanted to reach out to clarify the wording of your request to ensure we
are providing you with as much information as possible.
In your request you have referred to exemptions granted to NZJC under
section 43 of the Charities Act (“the Act”).
However I can confirm that since 2022, NZJC’s annual returns have been
withheld under a different section of the Act, namely section 25, which
sets out that the Chief executive may allow information and documents to
be omitted or removed from register and may restrict public access to
information and documents.
In light of this, I would appreciate if you could give me a call me on
0272179150 to dicuss your request, with the intention to provide you with
the most relevant information we hold.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Ngâ mihi,
Lucy Anton [1](she/her)
Kaihôpara | Investigator
Ngâ Ratonga Kaupapa Atawhai | Charities Services
[mobile number] | Direct Dial: +64 4 4959405 | Extn: 5405 | Help Desk:
0508 242 748
45 Pipitea Street, Wellington, 6011 | PO Box 12138, Thorndon, Wellington,
6011
[2]www.charities.govt.nz
[3]Logo-test
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From: Mohammed Khan
Dear Lucy,
Apologies for the delay in response. I must apologize, I am a little confused by your response.
You refer in your email to Section 25 of the OIA.
Section 25 specifically states that it relates solely to circumstances "Where a request is made under section 24(1)".
Section 24(1) relates to requests for "personal information" held by an agency, by a specific person, about the person making the request, and the right to correct inaccurate information held by said agency.
I assure you, I am not an officer of the 'charity' in question, and I am not requesting my personal information for correction or any other purposes.
If the DIA has indeed somehow been induced to allow a 'charity' to avoid compliance with the law regarding official information, on the basis of a section of the OIA that relates solely to individuals requesting their own personal information, that is deeply concerning.
On the understanding that such an exception has apparently been granted in error, I would refine my questions to the following:
1) What, if any, exemptions to the Charities Act have been granted to this organization? Please provide all documents related to any such decisions. If an argument for exceptions to the OIA to be granted to the NZJC based on 'Section 25' was put to the DIA by Juliet Moses or other officers of the NZJC, information held by the DIA related to that should be included.
2) If exemptions have not been granted, why has this group not been de-registered as a charity for lack of compliance? Please provide all documents related to any such decisions.
3) If exemptions have been granted, is there any other charity that has been granted the same or similar exemptions under Section 43 or other actual or purported legal bases, and which charities are allowed such exemptions?
Further-
4) As it appears that any exceptions may have been granted on the basis of a clause of the OIA that has no relevance at all to the obligation of the DIA to provide official information to the people of New Zealand, I am requesting all annual returns and annual financial statements held by the DIA in regards the NZJC. I am already aware of the identities of their officers, so have no objection to any names/addresses of said officers being redacted in the release of the documents in question.
Insofar as there would be any delay beyond the original OIA request period in producing #4, I am happy for these documents to be furnished within 20 working days of Wednesday 21 Feb, as there should be no reason for that to delay #1/#2/#3, and for #1/#2/#3 to not be delivered on schedule in compliance with the OIA. If that will not be done, please let me know on Wednesday so I can make a separate request.
If there is indeed a belief that a 'Section 25 exception' exists outside personal information requests made by an individual under 24(1), please let me know as soon as possible if you will be continuing to make this claim so that I can contact the Ombudsman to enquire as to when that misunderstanding will be corrected.
This information should be provided in electronic form by email, preferably as PDFs, preferably with text included if it is included in the original files.
Kind regards,
Mohammed Khan
From: Compliance
Department of Internal Affairs
Kia ora,
Thank you for contacting Charities Services. Your email has been
received.
We aim to review and respond to all messages within 10 business days.
Charities Services is a risk-based regulator, we investigate concerns of
serious wrongdoing and significant breaches of the Charities Act 2005.
Information about what complaints we investigate and which ones we don’t
can be found [1]here.
You can view our Compliance Approach [2]here.
Charities act independently. If you have contacted us about a disagreement
between officers or members about what the charity should do, or other
dispute, you may find information that is helpful [3]here. This includes
when you could consider approaching another organisation or independent
person to assist in resolving any dispute.
The[4] Charities Register is also available at all times, if you would
like to look up particular charities’ details including officers and rules
documents.
Ngâ mihi,
Kaitirotiro | Investigations Team
Ngâ Ratonga Kaupapa Atawhai | Charities Services
Te Tari Taiwhenua | The Department of Internal Affairs
References
Visible links
1. https://charities.govt.nz/charities-in-n...
2. https://www.charities.govt.nz/assets/Cha...
3. https://www.charities.govt.nz/im-a-regis...
4. https://register.charities.govt.nz/Chari...
From: Mohammed Khan
Dear Department of Internal Affairs,
Just to ensure that there is no misunderstanding, my request for #4 should be amended to:
4) As it appears that any exceptions may have been granted on the basis of a clause of the OIA that has no relevance at all to the obligation of the DIA to provide official information to the people of New Zealand, I am requesting all performance reports/financial statements/annual return forms held by the DIA in regards the NZJC. I am already aware of the identities of their officers, so have no objection to any names/addresses of said officers being redacted in the release of the documents in question.
Regards,
Mohammed Khan
From: Compliance
Department of Internal Affairs
Kia ora Mohammad
Thank you for your email.
To clarify, in our email dated 19 February 2024, we have referenced
section 25 of the Charities Act which allows charities to request their
own information to be withheld from the public register. We have not
referenced section 25 of the Official Information Act. This is because, as
you have pointed out it is not relevant to your request.
To confirm you have requested the following information:
1) What, if any, exemptions to the Charities Act have been granted to this
organization? Please provide all documents related to any such decisions.
2) If exemptions have not been granted, why has this group not been
de-registered as a charity for lack of compliance? Please provide all
documents related to any such decisions.
3) If exemptions have been granted, is there any other charity that has
been granted the same or similar exemptions under Section 43, and which
charities are allowed such exemptions?
4) As it appears that any exceptions may have been granted on the basis of
a clause of the OIA that has no relevance at all to the obligation of the
DIA to provide official information to the people of New Zealand, I am
requesting all performance reports/financial statements/annual return
forms held by the DIA in regards the NZJC. I am already aware of the
identities of their officers, so have no objection to any names/addresses
of said officers being redacted in the release of the documents in
question.
We will provide our response to you by 11 March 2024. This is 20 working
days from the date of your original request.
If you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to get in
touch.
Ngā mihi,
Lucy Anton [1](she/her)
Kaihōpara | Investigator
Ngā Ratonga Kaupapa Atawhai | Charities Services
[mobile number] | Direct Dial: +64 4 4959405 | Extn: 5405 | Help Desk:
0508 242 748
45 Pipitea Street, Wellington, 6011 | PO Box 12138, Thorndon, Wellington,
6011
[2]www.charities.govt.nz
[3]Logo-test
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From: Mohammed Khan
Dear Compliance,
Thanks, so to confirm, you haven't met with Arab or Muslim community groups, but have with representatives of those perpetrating the genocide against the Palestinian people?
Yours sincerely,
Mohammed Khan
From: Mohammed Khan
Dear Compliance,
Apologies, the previous email was sent in error- it was regarding a OIA request to the SIS in regards their decision to only meet with representatives of groups that support the genocide of the Palestinian people.
Given the admission that information about this lobby group that is critical to the public interest to be disclosed has apparently been suppressed in error under Section 25 of the Charities Act, I am amending my questions as follows:
1) What, if any, exemptions to the Charities Act have been granted to this organization? Please provide all documents related to any such decisions.
2) If exemptions have not been granted, why has this group not been de-registered as a charity for lack of compliance? Please provide all documents related to any such decisions.
3) If exemptions have been granted, is there any other charity that has been granted the same or similar exemptions under Section 25 or any other part of the Charities Act in regards the disclosure of performance reports/financial statements/annual return forms, and which charities are allowed such exemptions?
4) As it appears that any exceptions have been granted on the basis of a clause of the Charities Act that specifies that this information should only be suppressed if it is in the public interest, which suppressing information about the activities of a lobby group clearly is not, I am requesting all performance reports/financial statements/annual return forms held by the DIA in regards the NZJC. I am already aware of the identities of their officers from whistleblower leaks, so have no objection to any names/addresses or other information regarding said officers being redacted in the release of the documents in question.
Yours sincerely,
Mohammed Khan
From: SDO Official Correspondence
Department of Internal Affairs
Kia ora Mohammed,
Thank you for your email of 28 February 2024 regarding amendments to your
request.
Your request is now as follows –
1. What, if any, exemptions to the Charities Act have been granted to
this organization? Please provide all documents related to any such
decisions.
2. If exemptions have not been granted, why has this group not been
de-registered as a charity for lack of compliance? Please provide all
documents related to any such decisions.
3. If exemptions have been granted, is there any other charity that has
been granted the same or similar exemptions under Section 25 or any
other part of the Charities Act in regards the disclosure of
performance reports/financial statements/annual return forms, and
which charities are allowed such exemptions?
4. As it appears that any exceptions have been granted on the basis of a
clause of the Charities Act that specifies that this information
should only be suppressed if it is in the public interest, which
suppressing information about the activities of a lobby group clearly
is not, I am requesting all performance reports/financial
statements/annual return forms held by the DIA in regards the NZJC. I
am already aware of the identities of their officers from
whistleblower leaks, so have no objection to any names/addresses or
other information regarding said officers being redacted in the
release of the documents in question.
Any clarification or amendment of a request is considered to be a new
request for the purpose of calculating the statutory timeframe for
response. Therefore, pursuant to section 15(1AA) of the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act), the Department of Internal Affairs will
provide its response to your request as soon as practicable and within
twenty working days. This now makes the 20th working day 27 March 2024.
Ngâ mihi
Huey Lim| Advisor Official Correspondence
Te Pâhekoheko, Kâwai ki te iwi | Operations, Service Delivery and
Operations
Te Tari Taiwhenua The Department of Internal Affairs
[1]www.dia.govt.nz
show quoted sections
From: SDO Official Correspondence
Department of Internal Affairs
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OIA 2324 0584 Response KHAN.pdf
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NZJC Accounts 2023.pdf
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NZJC Accounts 2022.pdf
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Kia ora Mohammed
Please find attached the response to your Official Information Act
Request.
Ngā mihi
Huey Lim| Advisor Official Correspondence
Te Pāhekoheko, Kāwai ki te iwi | Operations, Service Delivery and
Operations
Te Tari Taiwhenua The Department of Internal Affairs
[1]www.dia.govt.nz
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1. http://www.dia.govt.nz/
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