26 November 2024
Gus M
[FYI request #29194 email]
Ref: PMO OIA 196-2024-25
Dear Gus M
Official Information Act request: Correspondence regarding Oral Parliamentary
Questions
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) request, received on 14 November
2024. You requested:
“Please provide all communications and correspondence regarding Hon Nicola Willis
answering oral parliamentary questions on behalf of the Prime Minister during Question
Time on 14 Novermber 2024.
This includes all emails, text messages, Teams messages, meeting minutes, and
verbal conversations in person and via call.
As this is regarding those in the role and acting in the role as Prime Minister, this
request is for information held by Rt Hon Christopher Luxon, and those that have have
been acting for him, Rt Hon Winston Peters, Hon David Seymour, and now Hon Nicola
Willis.
Information in scope of this request includes the Prime Minister receiving the questions
and the individual answering them being allocated.”
Information being released
Please see the attached text message conversation between myself and Andrew Ketels
(ACT Chief of Staff). This conversation occurred on the evening of 13 November 2024,
before the release of the oral questions for 14 November 2024.
For context, Prime Minister Luxon and Deputy Prime Minister Peters were overseas on 14
November 2024 and therefore unavailable to answer questions in the House. The process
this office follows for answering the Prime Minister’s oral questions when the Prime Minister
and Deputy Prime Minister are overseas is that Hon David Seymour will answer on behalf of
the Prime Minister. On this occasion, Minister Seymour was travelling and was unsure of
what time his arrival at Parliament would be ahead of Question Time. Hon Nicola Willis was
then verbally informed that she would be answering on behalf of the Prime Minister.
I have also decided to release one email from Parliamentary Services to this office, which is
the Oral Parliamentary Questions for the day being received.
Please note some information from the release is withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the Act, to
protect personal privacy. A small amount of information is not in scope of your request and is
marked accordingly.
You have the right to ask the Ombudsman to investigate and review my decision under
section 28(3) of the Act.
Yours sincerely
Cameron Burrows
Chief of Staff
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