The Herald requested that communication with Kelce’s business partner under the Official Information Act (OIA), but the Prime Minister’s Office responded on Monday refusing it.
That’s because, the Prime Minister’s Office says, “the communications referenced in the media reporting were sent and received by Rt Hon Luxon in his capacity as a private individual, as opposed to in his official capacity as Prime Minister”.
“As such, the information you have requested… is not official information, as defined in section 2 of the Act. No additional official information has been identified as relevant to this part of your request.”
Ministers don’t have to release information that they have sent in a personal capacity. This includes information they have sent in their capacity as an MP or a member of a political party.
The Ombudsman says information can become “official information” if used for ministerial purposes.
There are several factors to be considered when determining if information is held in a minister’s official capacity, such as the nature and context of the information, the context in which it came to be held, and its use.
While the Prime Minister’s Office didn’t release this correspondence, it did provide two emails Luxon’s office received on the topic.
One was from someone praising Luxon as “the country’s cheerleader”, while the second was from an individual wanting to “amplify” his message within the Indian community.
In his video message, Luxon extended an invitation to the newly-engaged couple to host their wedding or honeymoon in New Zealand.
“Well, Taylor and Travis, a big congratulations on this fantastic news. Getting engaged is such an exciting time,” Luxon said in the video.
“Now I know you might not be thinking this far ahead, but there would be no better place in the world to have the wedding than here in New Zealand, or even your honeymoon.”
He then highlighted some potential locations, including Aoraki Mount Cook and the Waitomo Caves.
Jamie Ensor is a senior political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. He was a finalist this year for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.
