Dear New Zealand Defence Force,

Today an armed offenders incident is unfolding in Linton army camp over a soldier allegedly barricaded in a house. Media are reporting that "Tanks were arriving at the scene", presumably to assist police (NZ Herald, "Soldier barricades himself in Linton base house", 11:15 AM Friday Oct 5, 2012)

Section 9(4) of the Defence Act 1990 prohibits use of the Armed Forces to assist the police, except with the authorisation of the Prime Minister, or (if they are absent) the next most senior Minister.

I would like to request the following authorisation under the Official Information Act 1982:

* whether such authorisation was granted, and if so, at what time.
* a copy of the authorisation.

For obvious reasons, I would like this request to be treated urgently. Whether the government and police are obeying the law around use of the Armed Forces is a significant constitutional question, and one which needs to be answered as quickly as possible.

I would prefer to receive an electronic response. Queries about this request will be automatically forwarded to me by the fyi.org.nz website.

With regards to s12 of the OIA, I am an NZ citizen and in NZ.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Harris