Withholding grounds - Tikanga
R S Grant made this Official Information request to Radio New Zealand Limited
The request was refused by Radio New Zealand Limited.
From: R S Grant
Dear Radio New Zealand Limited,
On May 8th 2023 you responded to an OIA request made by David Farrar and publicly available on the FYI website. In it you indicated that you were withholding the information sought, in part, under section 9(2)(a) of the OIA to protect (among other matters) “the tikanga of RNZ and its kaimahi”.
Section 9(2)(a) of the OIA is quite specific in allowing information to be withheld to protect the privacy of natural persons. RNZ is not a natural person, and tikanga is nowhere mentioned in the OIA as a withholding ground.
Accordingly, please provide any information that you have to support your position that “to protect the tikanga of RNZ and its kaimahi” is a valid ground for withholding information under the OIA. Please also provide any information you have (including but not limited to internal emails, instant messages, or text messages) in which the appropriateness of the protection of the “tikanga of RNZ and its kaimahi” being deployed as a ground for withholding information was discussed.
Additionally, section 9(1) of the Act provides that information may be withheld unless “in the circumstances of the particular case, the withholding of that information is outweighed by other considerations which render it desirable, in the public interest, to make that information available”. Given that the circumstances of this particular case were of exceptional public interest at the time, please provide any information you have concerning the assessment that you undertook as to whether the withholding of the requested information was outweighed by other considerations which would have rendered it desirable, in the public interest, to make the information available.
Yours faithfully,
R S Grant
From: RNZ
Radio New Zealand Limited
Kia ora,
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From: FormalComplaints
Radio New Zealand Limited
Good morning
“RNZ acknowledges receipt of your OIA request. Under the Official Information Act 1982 we have 20 working days to respond and will contact you via email /post. If for any reason our response is delayed we will advise you.”
Kind regards
Maggie Hedge| OIA Administrator RNZ
[email address]
-----Original Message-----
From: RNZ <[email address]>
Sent: Tuesday, 19 March 2024 9:53 AM
To: FormalComplaints <[email address]>
Subject: FW: [EXTERNAL] - Official Information request - Withholding grounds - Tikanga
-----Original Message-----
From: R S Grant <[FOI #26142 email]>
Sent: Monday, 18 March 2024 7:34 PM
To: RNZ <[email address]>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] - Official Information request - Withholding grounds - Tikanga
Dear Radio New Zealand Limited,
On May 8th 2023 you responded to an OIA request made by David Farrar and publicly available on the FYI website. In it you indicated that you were withholding the information sought, in part, under section 9(2)(a) of the OIA to protect (among other matters) “the tikanga of RNZ and its kaimahi”.
Section 9(2)(a) of the OIA is quite specific in allowing information to be withheld to protect the privacy of natural persons. RNZ is not a natural person, and tikanga is nowhere mentioned in the OIA as a withholding ground.
Accordingly, please provide any information that you have to support your position that “to protect the tikanga of RNZ and its kaimahi” is a valid ground for withholding information under the OIA. Please also provide any information you have (including but not limited to internal emails, instant messages, or text messages) in which the appropriateness of the protection of the “tikanga of RNZ and its kaimahi” being deployed as a ground for withholding information was discussed.
Additionally, section 9(1) of the Act provides that information may be withheld unless “in the circumstances of the particular case, the withholding of that information is outweighed by other considerations which render it desirable, in the public interest, to make that information available”. Given that the circumstances of this particular case were of exceptional public interest at the time, please provide any information you have concerning the assessment that you undertook as to whether the withholding of the requested information was outweighed by other considerations which would have rendered it desirable, in the public interest, to make the information available.
Yours faithfully,
R S Grant
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This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #26142 email]
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-------------------------------------------------------------------
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Emails sent by Radio New Zealand Limited (RNZ) or any related entity, including any attachments, may be confidential, protected by copyright and/or subject to privilege. If you receive an email from RNZ in error, please inform the sender immediately, delete it from your system and do not use, copy or disclose any of the information in that email for any purpose. Emails to/from RNZ may undergo email filtering and virus scanning, including by third party contractors. However, RNZ does not guarantee that any email or any attachment is secure, error-free or free of viruses or other unwanted or unexpected inclusions. The views expressed in any non-business email are not necessarily the views of RNZ. www.rnz.co.nz
hide quoted sections
From: R S Grant
Dear FormalComplaints,
Please could you advise me of the status of this OIA request, as the latest date for a response permitted by the law was yesterday.
Yours sincerely,
R S Grant
From: George Bignell
Radio New Zealand Limited
“Kia ora
The information relevant to your request is well canvassed in the
Ombudsman's final decision on the original OIA's received in connection
with Ms Allan's speech. The Ombudsman notes in his decision our referral
to, and his analysis that both s 9(2) (a) and s 9(2)(ba)(i) were relevant
to a consideration of RNZ's concerns with respect to tikanga.
I have attached a copy of that decision for your information.
As we are required to do, this message is to also advise you that our
response to your request can be referred to the Ombudsman’s Office for
review under s 28 (3) of the Official Information Act if you wish.
Kind regards
George Bignell
RNZ | LEVEL 2 | 155 THE TERRACE
PO BOX 123 | WELLINGTON | NEW ZEALAND 6140 | [1]www.rnz.co.nz
DDI +64 4 474 1424 | [mobile number]
[2]RNZ-logo-reo
-----Original Message-----
From: R S Grant <[3][FOI #26142 email]>
Sent: Monday, 18 March 2024 7:34 PM
To: RNZ <[4][email address]>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] - Official Information request - Withholding grounds -
Tikanga
Dear Radio New Zealand Limited,
On May 8th 2023 you responded to an OIA request made by David Farrar and
publicly available on the FYI website. In it you indicated that you were
withholding the information sought, in part, under section 9(2)(a) of the
OIA to protect (among other matters) “the tikanga of RNZ and its kaimahi”.
Section 9(2)(a) of the OIA is quite specific in allowing information to be
withheld to protect the privacy of natural persons. RNZ is not a natural
person, and tikanga is nowhere mentioned in the OIA as a withholding
ground.
Accordingly, please provide any information that you have to support your
position that “to protect the tikanga of RNZ and its kaimahi” is a valid
ground for withholding information under the OIA. Please also provide any
information you have (including but not limited to internal emails,
instant messages, or text messages) in which the appropriateness of the
protection of the “tikanga of RNZ and its kaimahi” being deployed as a
ground for withholding information was discussed.
Additionally, section 9(1) of the Act provides that information may be
withheld unless “in the circumstances of the particular case, the
withholding of that information is outweighed by other considerations
which render it desirable, in the public interest, to make that
information available”. Given that the circumstances of this particular
case were of exceptional public interest at the time, please provide any
information you have concerning the assessment that you undertook as to
whether the withholding of the requested information was outweighed by
other considerations which would have rendered it desirable, in the public
interest, to make the information available.
Yours faithfully,
R S Grant
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[5][FOI #26142 email]
Is [6][email address] the wrong address for Official Information requests to
Radio New Zealand Limited? If so, please contact us using this form:
[7]https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[8]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not
click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know
the content is safe.
Emails sent by Radio New Zealand Limited (RNZ) or any related entity,
including any attachments, may be confidential, protected by copyright
and/or subject to privilege. If you receive an email from RNZ in error,
please inform the sender immediately, delete it from your system and do
not use, copy or disclose any of the information in that email for any
purpose. Emails to/from RNZ may undergo email filtering and virus
scanning, including by third party contractors. However, RNZ does not
guarantee that any email or any attachment is secure, error-free or free
of viruses or other unwanted or unexpected inclusions. The views expressed
in any non-business email are not necessarily the views of RNZ.
www.rnz.co.nz
References
Visible links
1. http://www.radionz.co.nz/
3. mailto:[FOI #26142 email]
4. mailto:[email address]
5. mailto:[FOI #26142 email]
6. mailto:[email address]
7. https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
8. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
hide quoted sections
From: R S Grant
Dear George Bignell,
Thank you for your response, although I note that you made no attempt to provide the information I requested. While the Chief Ombudsman’s decision is interesting, I was already familiar with it and it was not what I asked for. The fact that you believe that the “issues” in my letter have been well canvassed does not absolve you from the obligation to either provide the information that I asked for, or refuse to provide under some valid ground.
This response doesn’t surprise me, however, and it is consistent with your refusal of earlier requests on the basis of “protecting the tikanga of RNZ”, a basis which is comprehensively dismissed in the Obudsman’s decision. It is unfortunate that RNZ does not seem to have learnt anything from this incident in terms of its obligations to comply with the OIA.
Yours sincerely,
R S Grant
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