Latest news with #OfficialInformationAct
NZ Herald
8 hours ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Government's secret pay equity overhaul bypassed public scrutiny
It halted existing claims and raised the threshold for proving work had been historically undervalued to support a claim. Claims then had to start again under the new threshold. The bill halted existing claims and raised the threshold for proving undervalued work. Photo / Jason Dorday It was revealed in the Budget that the savings from tightening the regime amounted to about $12.8 billion over the next four years. The documents, released to RNZ under the Official Information Act, revealed ministerial meetings, including one involving the Prime Minister, were carefully managed, with instructions to withhold their proactive diary release under confidentiality provisions. One email from Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden's office instructed officials to manually remove digital access to cabinet papers, warning that leaving the default settings in place 'will give access to ministers but also SPSs [senior private secretaries] and some ministerial advisers. So you might want to remove that and we can add individual named ministers instead'. Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden's office kept details of pay equity changes under tight wraps. Photo / Mark Mitchell Another memo described how hard copies were hand-delivered to ministers' offices to avoid creating digital trails. 'If you really need a soft copy, I can email it through,' wrote an official from the office of van Velden. 'For context, I swear I'm not being weirdly difficult – this was the method of distribution that has been advised.' The strategy was internally referred to as 'Project Ten'. A comprehensive communications pack was prepared in advance, to be released only after the bill had been introduced and passed. 'We recommend that any announcements or statements about the proposed amendments must be made after the introduction of the bill,' one paper said. 'This is because there is a risk of a large increase in the number of claims being raised if information about the proposed changes is made public beforehand.' That advice was followed. The legislation stopped 33 active claims overnight, some of which had been under way for years, and implemented a stricter legal test for future ones. The documents make clear that fiscal concerns were central to the push – a key driver was to significantly reduce costs to the Crown. Officials stressed the need for the law to be passed in time for Budget 2025, reinforcing the cost-cutting motive. But, they acknowledged the truncated timeline meant there was no opportunity for public submissions on the bill, a process later criticised as 'particularly unusual and draconian'. Officials also conceded limited testing and analysis of the policy proposals because of the short timeframe, and raised concerns about unintended consequences arising once the bill has been passed. Despite the rushed process, the internal discussions reveal the Government was aware of the contentious nature of the changes. Officials noted the proposed transitional arrangements, which 'retrospectively remove and alter people's rights', were 'most likely to be contentious' and 'may engage the Human Rights Act and Bill of Rights Act'. It proceeded anyway. – RNZ
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Thousands of shoplifting complaints not investigated across NZ
By Sam Sherwood of RNZ More than 5000 complaints of shoplifting below $500 were not forwarded for investigation while a controversial police directive was in place, documents released to RNZ reveal. RNZ earlier revealed a directive was sent to staff relating to police's File Management Centre (FMC) titled 'Assignment Changes - Theft and Fraud'. The directive said FMC was applying "nationally standardised value thresholds" when assessing theft and fraud files. The value thresholds were: General theft $200, petrol drive off $150, shoplifting $500, fraud (PayWave, online, scam etc) $1000, and all other fraud $500. "When assessing files with these offences, you will apply the relevant value threshold and file any file under that threshold regardless of any lines of enquiry or IFA score," it said. Following the revelations Police Commissioner Richard Chambers canned the directive, which he called "confusing and unhelpful" following significant backlash. On Wednesday, RNZ was released a series of documents from police under the Official Information Act. Among the documents was a tally of shoplifting complaints under $500 during the period the directive was in place. It revealed there were 5454 complaints of shoplifting that were not assigned for investigation. In Auckland, only 73 of 927 complaints were assigned, in Canterbury 192 of 742, Wellington 131 of 694. Chambers earlier said he was unaware of the directive until RNZ revealed it. A staffer from the police minister's office emailed Chambers on the evening of 26 May about an RNZ article on the memo. "It would be helpful if we could get some clarity as to what the policy actually is and clear up the messaging around this," the email said. Chambers replied that he had liaise with Rachael Bambery, the executive director of service, victims and resolutions and asked for a briefing to him and the Minister's office to "sort the messaging out". "For the record the messaging about not following up shoplifting complaints under a certain threshold is not correct and unhelpful. A range of information is taken into account when assessing complaints and this will inform what Police does. "We have seen very effective approaches to retail crime in locations such as Tauranga and Gisborne which set the standard in terms of what is achievable, irrespective of threshold." Shortly after another email from a parliamentary email asked to be looped into any communications being sent about the limits on investigating shoplifting. "We can see there's a bit of traction tonight." Chambers replied: "I don't agree with the content, and we need to provide some reassurance and better messaging to retail sector". The following morning Chambers released a statement and said the memo did not meet his expectations on retail crime. The directive Also in the OIA is a document titled 'Service Group Continuous Improvement Project' dated January 2025. The document said to provide a more "efficient and consistent service and to meet increasing demand", the FMC was moving from a regional model to a national model. "This will allow the FMC workload to be triaged, prioritised and actioned by FMC staff across the country, rather than the FMC staff physically based within Districts." The process for assigning volume crime files was "inefficient, with avoidable time delays and double handling". Volume crime cases made up 62 per cent of daily reports, of which 70 per cent were theft, fraud and burglary. It was proposed that the FMC and 105-non emergency teams would assign volume crime cases based on the solvability only, with "streamlined assignment rules" across the Districts. "By standardising processes like assignment rules, FMC can move towards utilising its workforce more efficiently, freeing up capacity to do higher value and higher priority services." The document included the proposed value thresholds. The value thresholds were: General theft $200, petrol drive off $150, shoplifting $500, fraud (PayWave, online, scam etc) $1000, and all other fraud $500. On March 17, Superintendent Blair MacDonald sent the email earlier revealed by RNZ that from 26 March the thresholds would be in place. The documents include an email from 7 April revealing the number of files being assigned for investigation since the rules were put in place 12 days earlier. In the email, the police adviser, said Wellington had the biggest change from an average of 60 per day to an average of 30. The numbers were being compared to baseline data over a 47-day period before the threshold was put into place. During the same period Auckland City had a 26 per cent decrease, Counties Manukau 21 per cent, Eastern 38 per cent, Central 42 per cent and Canterbury 13 per cent. Waikato had a 2.7 per cent increase, which the staffer said was due to filed being reassigned and appearing twice. 'Unable to investigate further' The OIA also includes a template that had been created to send to victims whose crimes did not meet the threshold. The email thanked the victims for reporting their crime but said they "regret to advise, at this time, Police is unable to investigate further". "While we would like to resolve all matters to our victims' complete satisfaction, there are occasions where we cannot. "Investigations are prioritised using a range of factors including legal timeframes and the likelihood of a successful conviction." The email said police appreciated this may be "frustrating and upsetting" to hear, "particularly if you reported the incident recently or provided lines of enquiry". "We will however review your case if our ability to resolve this matter changes." Police Minister Mark Mitchell told RNZ he was "pleased that the Police Commissioner moved quickly to clarify Police's position, initiate a review of relevant cases, and reassure the retail sector and the public that Police will continue to enforce the law with their usual discretion". Review under way Police earlier launched a review to establish how many cases of retail crime were filed while the controversial directive was in place. A police spokesperson earlier confirmed to RNZ the national value threshold applied to the prioritisation of lower-level theft and fraud offences was being removed. "A review is being completed on any cases that may have been impacted by those thresholds to assess whether they should be assigned to districts for follow-up," the spokesperson said. The review will be done by police's data quality team. "Police want to reassure that cases will continue to be managed locally balancing demand, resources and priorities to ensure the best possible service to victims in those communities." Rachael Bambery, Executive Director Service, Victims, Resolutions said it was not correct to assume that all the closures were due to the monetary thresholds for early case closure. Some may have had no information or evidence to follow up on. She confirmed police were completing a review on files that were closed previously due to the monetary threshold. That review was focused on identifying and pursuing any outstanding lines of enquiry.
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
More than 5000 complaints of shoplifting not investigated across NZ
By Sam Sherwood of RNZ More than 5000 complaints of shoplifting below $500 were not forwarded for investigation while a controversial police directive was in place, documents released to RNZ reveal. RNZ earlier revealed a directive was sent to staff relating to police's File Management Centre (FMC) titled 'Assignment Changes - Theft and Fraud'. The directive said FMC was applying "nationally standardised value thresholds" when assessing theft and fraud files. The value thresholds were: General theft $200, petrol drive off $150, shoplifting $500, fraud (PayWave, online, scam etc) $1000, and all other fraud $500. "When assessing files with these offences, you will apply the relevant value threshold and file any file under that threshold regardless of any lines of enquiry or IFA score," it said. Following the revelations Police Commissioner Richard Chambers canned the directive, which he called "confusing and unhelpful" following significant backlash. On Wednesday, RNZ was released a series of documents from police under the Official Information Act. Among the documents was a tally of shoplifting complaints under $500 during the period the directive was in place. It revealed there were 5454 complaints of shoplifting that were not assigned for investigation. In Auckland, only 73 of 927 complaints were assigned, in Canterbury 192 of 742, Wellington 131 of 694. Chambers earlier said he was unaware of the directive until RNZ revealed it. A staffer from the police minister's office emailed Chambers on the evening of 26 May about an RNZ article on the memo. "It would be helpful if we could get some clarity as to what the policy actually is and clear up the messaging around this," the email said. Chambers replied that he had liaise with Rachael Bambery, the executive director of service, victims and resolutions and asked for a briefing to him and the Minister's office to "sort the messaging out". "For the record the messaging about not following up shoplifting complaints under a certain threshold is not correct and unhelpful. A range of information is taken into account when assessing complaints and this will inform what Police does. "We have seen very effective approaches to retail crime in locations such as Tauranga and Gisborne which set the standard in terms of what is achievable, irrespective of threshold." Shortly after another email from a parliamentary email asked to be looped into any communications being sent about the limits on investigating shoplifting. "We can see there's a bit of traction tonight." Chambers replied: "I don't agree with the content, and we need to provide some reassurance and better messaging to retail sector". The following morning Chambers released a statement and said the memo did not meet his expectations on retail crime. The directive Also in the OIA is a document titled 'Service Group Continuous Improvement Project' dated January 2025. The document said to provide a more "efficient and consistent service and to meet increasing demand", the FMC was moving from a regional model to a national model. "This will allow the FMC workload to be triaged, prioritised and actioned by FMC staff across the country, rather than the FMC staff physically based within Districts." The process for assigning volume crime files was "inefficient, with avoidable time delays and double handling". Volume crime cases made up 62 per cent of daily reports, of which 70 per cent were theft, fraud and burglary. It was proposed that the FMC and 105-non emergency teams would assign volume crime cases based on the solvability only, with "streamlined assignment rules" across the Districts. "By standardising processes like assignment rules, FMC can move towards utilising its workforce more efficiently, freeing up capacity to do higher value and higher priority services." The document included the proposed value thresholds. The value thresholds were: General theft $200, petrol drive off $150, shoplifting $500, fraud (PayWave, online, scam etc) $1000, and all other fraud $500. On March 17, Superintendent Blair MacDonald sent the email earlier revealed by RNZ that from 26 March the thresholds would be in place. The documents include an email from 7 April revealing the number of files being assigned for investigation since the rules were put in place 12 days earlier. In the email, the police adviser, said Wellington had the biggest change from an average of 60 per day to an average of 30. The numbers were being compared to baseline data over a 47-day period before the threshold was put into place. During the same period Auckland City had a 26 per cent decrease, Counties Manukau 21 per cent, Eastern 38 per cent, Central 42 per cent and Canterbury 13 per cent. Waikato had a 2.7 per cent increase, which the staffer said was due to filed being reassigned and appearing twice. 'Unable to investigate further' The OIA also includes a template that had been created to send to victims whose crimes did not meet the threshold. The email thanked the victims for reporting their crime but said they "regret to advise, at this time, Police is unable to investigate further". "While we would like to resolve all matters to our victims' complete satisfaction, there are occasions where we cannot. "Investigations are prioritised using a range of factors including legal timeframes and the likelihood of a successful conviction." The email said police appreciated this may be "frustrating and upsetting" to hear, "particularly if you reported the incident recently or provided lines of enquiry". "We will however review your case if our ability to resolve this matter changes." Police Minister Mark Mitchell told RNZ he was "pleased that the Police Commissioner moved quickly to clarify Police's position, initiate a review of relevant cases, and reassure the retail sector and the public that Police will continue to enforce the law with their usual discretion". Review under way Police earlier launched a review to establish how many cases of retail crime were filed while the controversial directive was in place. A police spokesperson earlier confirmed to RNZ the national value threshold applied to the prioritisation of lower-level theft and fraud offences was being removed. "A review is being completed on any cases that may have been impacted by those thresholds to assess whether they should be assigned to districts for follow-up," the spokesperson said. The review will be done by police's data quality team. "Police want to reassure that cases will continue to be managed locally balancing demand, resources and priorities to ensure the best possible service to victims in those communities." Rachael Bambery, Executive Director Service, Victims, Resolutions said it was not correct to assume that all the closures were due to the monetary thresholds for early case closure. Some may have had no information or evidence to follow up on. She confirmed police were completing a review on files that were closed previously due to the monetary threshold. That review was focused on identifying and pursuing any outstanding lines of enquiry.
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Treasury releases minutes of meeting Adrian Orr had with Nicola Willis before he resigned as Reserve Bank governor
The minutes say Reserve Bank board chairman Neil Quigley then said the board's view of the amount of funding required was closer to that of the Treasury than the Reserve Bank's management. They say Quigley clarified the board had a 'positive relationship and good communication with the Treasury'. Treasury reconsiders releasing information Last week, the Treasury released an email Quigley sent to a principal Treasury adviser, apologising on the Reserve Bank's behalf for Orr's behaviour during another meeting on February 20. 'I am sorry Adrian lost his cool with you this afternoon. Your question was not surprising, and [he] should have been able to give you a more dispassionate answer,' Quigley told the adviser. The Treasury released copies of the email and the meeting minutes after receiving inquiries about an allegation that there was an element of Orr being pushed to resign. The official line from Quigley was that Orr chose to resign because he disagreed with the board over the amount of government funding to pitch for. Indeed, Orr explained his concerns over funding in an email he sent to the board on February 14. He noted the tension between submitting a funding proposal that the Government wanted to hear, versus one that supported the bank's goals. 'The importance and clarity of operational independence for central banks is judged by global financial markets now and in the future. Not by any current Government,' Orr said. The point of contention is that Quigley didn't provide a reason for Orr's departure on the day he resigned, saying it was a 'personal decision'. This was despite the Herald specifically asking whether the problem was a disagreement over funding. It took until June for the bank to release a statement with an explanation for the resignation. The Reserve Bank also made a limited stack of documents public, rather than responding to individual Official Information Act (OIA) requests for information related to Orr's resignation. The Treasury has since conceded that copies of the email and minutes were in scope of the OIA request the Herald made on March 6. 'Although this material had previously been withheld under the OIA, the Treasury have reassessed the withholding and have determined that with the passage of time, the public interest in release outweighs the public interest in withholding the information,' the Treasury said. The Treasury told the Herald it would provide a fuller response to its March 6 request 'in due course'. The Reserve Bank last week said its legal obligations were different to those of the Treasury, and it stood by the information it released. It noted the Ombudsman was investigating complaints over its handling of information requests. Quigley awaits Ombudsman's ruling The situation has prompted the likes of the Taxpayers' Union and Geof Mortlock – a consultant who used to work at the Reserve Bank – to call for Quigley to resign. Mortlock questioned Quigley's credibility in recommending who Willis appoints as governor. On Monday, Willis said she had confidence in Quigley, saying he had the right skills and experience for the job. 'The Reserve Bank has been through a number of significant changes. It is in the midst of appointing a new governor. At this critical juncture, I think stability is helpful,' Willis said. However, she expressed her disappointment over the handling of Orr's resignation to the Reserve Bank board at a meeting on Thursday last week. Speaking to the Herald after that meeting, Quigley said the board also confirmed it had confidence in him. He expected to hear back from the Ombudsman soon. '[I] feel that I've done the right thing up to this point, and based on the advice that I've had,' Quigley said. 'But if that advice changes, or there's new information that comes in, then obviously I'll need to rethink how the bank proceeds. 'For now, to say I'm comfortable wouldn't be quite right, but I think, from my end, I feel like I've been well advised … and we've done our best.' Asked whether cumulatively he believed Orr's behaviour was problematic, Quigley recognised his role required him to give Orr feedback on his performance. 'I stand by the fact that the board did that. But I don't feel it's appropriate to move into the territory where I'm elaborating on the details of my, or the board's, managing of that relationship in the public domain because it's just not what I'd ever do with someone who worked with me or for me.' Orr hasn't spoken publicly about his resignation. Jenée Tibshraeny is the Herald's Wellington business editor, based in the parliamentary press gallery. She specialises in government and Reserve Bank policymaking, economics and banking.
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- NZ Herald
Retail crime investigations in some regions halved under police directive
After the revelations Police Commissioner Richard Chambers canned the directive, which he called 'confusing and unhelpful' following significant backlash. Today, police released a series of documents to RNZ under the Official Information Act. Among the documents was a tally of shoplifting complaints under $500 during the period the directive was in place. It revealed there were 5454 complaints of shoplifting that were not assigned for investigation. In Auckland, only 73 of 927 complaints were assigned, in Canterbury 192 of 742, Wellington 131 of 694. Chambers earlier said he was unaware of the directive until RNZ revealed it. A staffer from the police minister's office emailed Chambers on the evening of May 26 about an RNZ article on the memo. 'It would be helpful if we could get some clarity as to what the policy actually is and clear up the messaging around this,' the email said. Chambers replied that he had liaised with Rachael Bambery, the executive director of service, victims and resolutions, and asked for a briefing to him and the minister's office to 'sort the messaging out'. 'For the record the messaging about not following up shoplifting complaints under a certain threshold is not correct and unhelpful. A range of information is taken into account when assessing complaints and this will inform what Police does. 'We have seen very effective approaches to retail crime in locations such as Tauranga and Gisborne which set the standard in terms of what is achievable, irrespective of threshold.' Shortly afterwards, another email from a parliamentary email asked to be looped into any communications being sent about the limits on investigating shoplifting. 'We can see there's a bit of traction tonight.' Chambers replied: 'I don't agree with the content, and we need to provide some reassurance and better messaging to retail sector'. The directive Also in the OIA is a document titled 'Service Group Continuous Improvement Project' dated January 2025. The document said to provide a more 'efficient and consistent service and to meet increasing demand', the FMC was moving from a regional model to a national model. 'This will allow the FMC workload to be triaged, prioritised and actioned by FMC staff across the country, rather than the FMC staff physically based within districts.' The process for assigning volume crime files was 'inefficient, with avoidable time delays and double handling'. Volume crime cases made up 62% of daily reports, of which 70% were theft, fraud and burglary. It was proposed that the FMC and 105-non emergency teams would assign volume crime cases based on the solvability only, with 'streamlined assignment rules' across the police districts. 'By standardising processes like assignment rules, FMC can move towards utilising its workforce more efficiently, freeing up capacity to do higher value and higher priority services.' The document included the proposed value thresholds. The value thresholds were: general theft $200, petrol drive-off $150, shoplifting $500, fraud (payWave, online, scam etc) $1000 and all other fraud $500. On March 17, Superintendent Blair MacDonald sent the email earlier revealed by RNZ that from March 26, the thresholds would be in place. The documents include an email from April 7 revealing the number of files being assigned for investigation since the rules were put in place 12 days earlier. In the email, the police adviser said Wellington had the biggest change, from an average of 60 per day to an average of 30. The numbers were being compared to baseline data over a 47-day period before the threshold was put into place. During the same period, Auckland City had a 26% decrease, Counties Manukau 21%, Eastern 38%, Central 42% and Canterbury 13%. Waikato had a 2.7% increase, which the staffer said was due to files being reassigned and appearing twice. 'Unable to investigate further' The OIA also includes a template that had been created to send to victims whose crimes did not meet the threshold. The email thanked the victims for reporting their crime but said they 'regret to advise, at this time, Police is unable to investigate further'. 'While we would like to resolve all matters to our victims' complete satisfaction, there are occasions where we cannot. 'Investigations are prioritised using a range of factors including legal timeframes and the likelihood of a successful conviction.' The email said police appreciated this may be 'frustrating and upsetting' to hear, 'particularly if you reported the incident recently or provided lines of inquiry'. 'We will however review your case if our ability to resolve this matter changes.' RNZ has approached police for comment. Police Minister Mark Mitchell told RNZ he was 'pleased that the Police Commissioner moved quickly to clarify Police's position, initiate a review of relevant cases, and reassure the retail sector and the public that Police will continue to enforce the law with their usual discretion'. Review under way Police earlier launched a review to establish how many cases of retail crime were filed while the controversial directive was in place. A police spokesperson earlier confirmed to RNZ the national value threshold applied to the prioritisation of lower-level theft and fraud offences was being removed. 'A review is being completed on any cases that may have been impacted by those thresholds to assess whether they should be assigned to districts for follow-up,' the spokesperson said. The review will be done by police's data quality team. 'Police want to reassure that cases will continue to be managed locally balancing demand, resources and priorities to ensure the best possible service to victims in those communities.' - RNZ
