18-E-1061 OIA
15 January 2019
T Benseman
By email: [FYI request #9268 email]
Tēnā koe
OFFICIAL INFORMATION REQUEST
I refer to your official information request dated 16 December 2018 for the following:
“I require ALL of the New Zealand Department of Conservations bank
statements between 1-1-2011 and 1-1-2018.
The digital raw form bank statements are required showing all income and
expenditure and all the normal details that the bank has on these statements.
To clarify, when I say ALL or all bank statements and normal details I mean
"every single one" "each and every one" and "actually all of them" as there
seems to be some confusion in the supply of publicly owned data within your
department and these statements are intended to clarify what is required of
you by law”.
Your request as currently framed will be very difficult to meet without substantial
collation or research. It is estimated that it would take 50 hours to provide you with
the seven years of transactions for the three bank accounts maintained by the
Department.
Unless your request is amended, we may have to refuse it under section 18(f) of the
OIA, which applies where the information cannot be made available without
substantial collation or research.
Please let us know before 1 February 2019 whether you are prepared to amend or
clarify your request to cover a shorter time period or whether you might be prepared
to meet the cost of the work to complete the OIA. This would be charged at a rate of
$76 per hour as specified in the
Ministry of Justice Charging Guidelines. It is also
important to note and advise that income and expenditure for a large organisation
cannot be ascertained by digital or hard copy bank statements. Transactions are
encrypted for electronic updates into financial systems.
I have provided you with one month of bank transactions for January 2011 in digital
format as an example of the information you have requested.
Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai
Whare Kaupapa Atawhai / Conservation House
PO Box 10420, Wellington 6143,
www.doc.govt.nz
DOC-567 7998
Please also find a link to the Department’s Annual Reports which includes income
and expenditure and other useful financial statements, prepared according to
International Public Benefit Entity accounting standards (IPSAS PBE), and audited by
KPMG:
https://www.doc.govt.nz/about-us/our-role/corporate-publications/annual-reports-
archive/
You are entitled to seek an investigation and review of my decision by writing to an
Ombudsman as provided by section 28 (3) Official Information Act.
Yours sincerely
Katrina Nowlan
Director, Finance
Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai
Whare Kaupapa Atawhai / Conservation House
PO Box 10420, Wellington 6143,
www.doc.govt.nz
DOC-567 7998