Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has committed to releasing a second lobbying document from Z Energy after the Ombudsman found his office unreasonably withheld material from an official information response.
The document, described as a Z Energy addendum, was provided to former chief policy adviser Matt Burgess but not publicly released or subject to an OIA decision. Burgess had received lobbying documents from Z Energy and Fonterra seeking legal changes to prevent climate emissions damages lawsuits.
Luxon said his office is working on releasing the addendum, noting "as I understand it, there's commercially sensitive information in that, but we will work our way through that as quickly as we can". RNZ has requested the document.
The Prime Minister accepted the Ombudsman's findings, calling it a "very fair report", and said he fully embraced the recommendations. All staff have been reminded of their obligations, he said.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the findings confirmed a deliberate and concerted effort by the PM's office not to release information when legally obliged, describing the matter as something that "stinks to high heaven". Hipkins said there is no justification for using personal email.
Luxon disagreed with claims by Burgess that staff do not commonly take meeting records and that staff often use personal email due to inadequate IT systems. Burgess is no longer employed by the Prime Minister's office.
"The responsibility and the obligation is that they need to record those meetings and maintain transparency and trust", Luxon said.