Reading Time: 2 minutes Lillian Hanly of RNZ The senior Beehive staffer who failed to disclose a crucial document from lobbyists had provided some of the information relevant at the time a request was made, but not all of it, RNZ can reveal. RNZ reported last month that a previously undisclosed briefing document had been provided to the Prime Minister’s office (PMO) by Fonterra and Z Energy regarding Mike Smith’s legal case against major emitters. The Environmental Law Initiative (ELI) complained to the Ombudsman after
it sought information in March 2025 about meetings, discussions or conversations regarding the case and any proposed legislative or regulatory response. Matt Hall, the group’s research and legal director, said it received “only limited material” in response. ELI said it appeared the Prime Minister’s office withheld a document that now showed direct lobbying of PMO staff by the defendants in the Smith case. The document only came to light due to “discovery obligations” on the various corporate defendants, the group said. At the time, Prime
Minister Christopher Luxon said he only became aware of the document through the media, and he’s publicly acknowledged the information had not been released in the OIA response to Hall. In a parliamentary written question from Labour leader Chris Hipkins, released to RNZ on Monday, Luxon was asked whether his former staffer had any involvement in answering ELI’s OIA request. Luxon said his staffer, the chief policy advisor at the time, provided “information relevant to the request” he’d received. At the time, that information did
not include the briefing document now at the centre of two formal investigations, one by the Ombudsman and one by the Department of Internal Affairs. In response to an earlier written parliamentary question from Labour’s Deborah Russell, released publicly on Friday, Luxon said his office had “no record” of receiving the 2024 briefing note “nor do we have any record of any meetings the former staff member may have had”. “I am advised there is no record of the briefing note been passed on to
any other minister, ministerial office, staff member or officials.” Hipkins told RNZ it “absolutely stinks”. “When key lobbying material is hidden from the OIA process and only emerges through legal proceedings, people are right to ask what Luxon’s office was trying to hide.” Luxon has been approached for comment.
PMO, lobbying note, OIA, Ombudsman, Department of Internal Affairs, Mike Smith legal case, Fonterra, Z Energy, Environmental Law Initiative, Christopher Luxon, Chris Hipkins, Deborah Russell