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Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

Review of decisions - Decisions under Part 2 and section 8

31: Disclosure of certain information not to be recommended

You could also call this:

"Some information might not be shared with you to keep New Zealand safe."

Illustration for Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987

If you ask for certain information, the Ombudsman might not be able to recommend that it be made available to you. This can happen if the Prime Minister says that making the information available would hurt New Zealand's security or defence, or its relationships with other countries. The Attorney-General can also stop the information from being made available if they think it would hurt the prevention or investigation of crimes.

The Ombudsman can still ask the local authority to think again about making the information available. You can find more information about this rule by looking at section 31 of the original act.

This rule is part of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, which was amended by the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Act 2023.

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This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM123044.

Topics:
Government and voting > Local councilsRights and equality > Privacy
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Part 5Review of decisions
Decisions under Part 2 and section 8

31Disclosure of certain information not to be recommended

  1. An Ombudsman must not recommend that information be made available if—

  2. the Prime Minister certifies that making the information available would be likely to prejudice the security or defence of New Zealand or the international relations of the Government of New Zealand; or
    1. the Attorney-General certifies that making the information available would be likely to prejudice the prevention, investigation, or detection of offences.

      1. However, the Ombudsman may recommend that the appropriate local authority give further consideration to making the information available.

      Compare
      Notes
      • Section 31: replaced, on , by section 13 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Amendment Act 2023 (2023 No 41).