Reference: 20190392

13 August 2019

Thank you for your Official Information Act request, received on 13 June 2019. You requested the following:

“I request, under the Official Information Act 1982, a copy of all briefing papers from the Treasury to the Finance Minister on housing policy issues since 1 October 2018.

Please take this request to include the briefing covered in this article regarding the proposed Urban Development Authority: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/05/29/609457/kiwibuild-risks-dragging-down- housing-nz

Where information is withheld, I request you provide the reason for refusal and the grounds in support of that reason as required by Sections 19(a)(i) and (ii) of the Act.”

Information being released

Please find enclosed the following documents:

Item Date Document Description Proposed Action

1. 23 October 2018 Treasury Report: UDA Entity Release in part Form Cabinet Paper

2. 2 November 2018 Treasury Report: Briefing for Release in part Social Wellbeing Committee Meeting, Wednesday 7 November

3. 9 November 2018 Treasury Report: Briefing for Release in part Cabinet Business Committee, 12 November 2018

4. 30 November 2018 Treasury Report: Briefing for Release in part Cabinet Economic Development Committee, 5 December 2018

1 The Terrace PO Box 3724 Wellington 6140 New Zealand tel. +64-4-472-2733 https://treasury.govt.nz 5. 7 December 2018 Treasury Report: Briefing for Release in part Cabinet Economic Development Committee, 12 December 2018

6. 5 March 2019 Email: UGA DEV talking points Release in part and RM reform

7. 29 March 2019 Treasury Report: Briefing for Release in part Cabinet Economic Development Committee, 3 April 2019

8. 18 April 2019 Email RMA Cabinet Paper – Release in part advice for ministerial consultation

9. 26 April 2019 Treasury Report: Briefing for Release in part Cabinet Economic Development Committee 1 May 2019

10. 3 May 2019 Treasury Report: Briefing for Release in part Cabinet Economic Development Committee 8 May 2019

11. 17 May 2019 Treasury Report: Briefing for Release in part Cabinet Economic Development Committee 22 May 2019

I have decided to release the documents listed above, subject to information being withheld under one or more of the following sections of the Official Information Act, as applicable:

• personal contact details of officials, under section 9(2)(a) – to protect the privacy of natural persons, including that of deceased natural persons,

• advice still under consideration, section 9(2)(f)(iv) – to maintain the current constitutional conventions protecting the confidentiality of advice tendered by Ministers and officials,

• names and contact details of junior officials and certain sensitive advice, under section 9(2)(g)(i) – to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of opinions,

• name and contact details of officials, under section s9(2)(g)(ii) the protection of such Ministers, members of organisations, officers, and employees from improper pressure or harassment, and

• direct dial phone numbers of officials, under section 9(2)(k) – to prevent the disclosure of information for improper gain or improper advantage.

Some information has been redacted because it is not covered by the scope of your request. This is because the documents include matters outside your specific request.

2 Direct dial phone numbers of officials have been redacted under section 9(2)(k) in order to reduce the possibility of staff being exposed to phishing and other scams. This is because information released under the OIA may end up in the public domain, for example, on websites including Treasury’s website.

Information publicly available

The following information is also covered by your request and will soon be publicly available on the Treasury website a