5 August 2024
John
[FYI request #27188 email]
Ref: OIA-2023/24-0942
Dear John
Official Information Act request relating to funding of He Whenua Taurikura
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) request received on 9 June 2024.
You requested:
“I am requesting information that pertains to DPMC's funding of the charity (registration
number: CC60963) He Whenua Taurikura.
1. According to He Whenua Taurikura's latest Performance Report (dated 15
December 2022 to 3 June 2023), it has not met any of the eight described outputs
identified on page 6 of the report. I am requesting information, including academic
publications, that indicates any output from He Whenua Taurikura to justify government
funding.
2. I am requesting you provide the conditions or contractual arrangement that He
Whenua Taurikura shares with DPMC that outlines the requirements with which He
Whenua Taurikura must comply with to have received government funding and to
continue to receive government funding.
3. If the conditions for the government funding He Whenua Taurikura are not met, what
are the proposed consequences as they relate to government funding as per the
agreement between DPMC and He Whenua Taurikura?”
We have numbered the parts of your request for ease of reference.
The time frame for responding to your request was extended under section 15A of the Act by
20 working days because consultations were required before a decision could be made on
the request. We transferred part [1] of your request to Victoria University of Wellington as
they hold the information relating to He Whenua Taurikura’s performance report. We made
this transfer of part [1] of your request to Victoria University of Wellington in error, and we will
now be responding to your full request. We apologise for any confusion this has caused.
Thank you for your patience as we processed your request.
Information being released
The Performance Report you refer to in part [1] of your request is an annual requirement of
the He Whenua Taurikura - National Centre of Research Excellence Trust (the Trust) at the
end of each financial year as part of maintaining their charitable status.
The Trust was established in 2022 to “fund, facilitate, and promote research into the
prevention and countering of violent extremism in New Zealand”. A Governance Board of
trustees oversees the Centre’s work. Please note that while the Trust, through the
Governance Board, provides strategic direction and oversees the work of the research centre
of the same name, they are separate legal entities.
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Executive Wing, Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand 6011
64 4 817 9698 www.dpmc.govt.nz
The Performance Report includes a description of and reporting against the Trust’s outputs,
consisting of the eleven areas that are specifically listed in the Deed of Trust. There are no
targets or timeframes set for any of these outputs in the Performance Report. It is simply a
list of, and reporting against to 30 June 2023, the Trust’s eleven overarching enduring
purposes. The document is a Trust report assessing the extent to which the Trust had met its
purposes for the period 15 December 2022 to 30 June 2023.
You will note on page 7 of the Performance Report that
“The following other outputs were
achieved as were considered necessary and proper by the Trustees to further the below
listed of the Trust's charitable purposes.” and was achieved through
“A grant totalling
$1,325,000 paid to Victoria University of Wellington for the hosting and funding of the centre.” The performance reported here is distinct from the overall performance of the He Whenua
Taurikura National Centre of Research Excellence (the HWT Centre), which had existed for a
year by that point and had work well underway. However, that progress had been funded
separately directly by DPMC prior to the Trust being established. The Trust’s Performance
Report therefore necessarily does not reflect this progress made by the HWT Centre.
Statements by the Trust against each of its outputs should therefore not be taken as
assessments of the HWT Centre’s performance.
Regarding part [2] of your request, the following diagram shows the various funding and
contractual arrangements between DPMC, the Trust, and the Research Centre.
The Centre is hosted by Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) and
operates independently of Government, funded, and supported through the Trust.
DPMC does not have a direct funding relationship with the HWT Centre. Funding for the
HWT Centre to date has been provided by DPMC through a conditional grant to the Trust,
who then separately provide this funding to VUW for the HWT Centre.
A requirement of this conditional grant is that the Trust provide to DPMC within 3 months of
completion of the Grant Period a report on:
• The Centre’s overall Strategic Plan, Annual Plan and Research Priorities, and
progress against these during the grant period.
• The Centre’s year-to-date spend of this Grant against its annual budget.
• The Trust’s assessment of the extent to which the Centre has or is likely to meet
its purposes, as set out in the Deed of Trust.
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We have therefore decided to release to you the He Whenua Taurikura National Centre of
Research Excellence DPMC Reporting Requirements Reporting Period 1 January 23 – 30
June 23 document provided by the Trust to DPMC, together with the response letter from
DPMC to the Trust. These documents cover both part [1] and demonstrates compliance by
the Trust with the conditions you requested information on in part [2]. Some information
within this document has been withheld under the following sections of the Act:
• section 9(2)(g)(i), to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and
frank expression of opinion
• section 9(2)(a); to protect the privacy of individuals.
This report provides the Board’s assessment of the extent to which the Trust’s objectives
have been met through the work of the Centre.
Regarding part [3] of your request, if the conditions for the funding are not met, DPMC would
ask the Trust to renegotiate the annual plan with the HWT Centre through the conditional
grant.
In making my decision, I have considered the public interest considerations in section 9(1) of
the Act. No public interest has been identified that would be sufficient to outweigh the
reasons for withholding that information.
You have the right to ask the Ombudsman to investigate and review my decision under
section 28(3) of the Act.
We do not intend to publish this response on DPMC’s website.
Yours sincerely
Bridget White
Executive Director
National Security Group
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