The ombudsman has issued a provisional opinion on the government's 33-page coalition document, and found it not to be official information. Meaning that its not covered by the Act and does not have to be released:
The coalition Government's refusal to release a 33-page document created during negotiations has been backed by the Chief Ombudsman's provisional ruling.
[...]
In the provisional ruling, sent to Newsroom, Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier said he was satisfied the document had not played a role in policy decisions.
Boshier said he had "carefully read and considered" the document, saying it was "clearly made for the purpose of assisting the parties with coalition negotiations".
"It contains discussion points designed for negotiation and, despite certain public comments to the contrary, does not include information such as directives to Ministers," Boshier said, in the provisional decision sent to Newsroom.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's office told Boshier the document had not been passed on to any ministers or government departments, or used by any ministers in carrying out their official duties.
Boshier said he was satisfied the information had not been used by Ardern in her role as Prime Minister, and was held "solely in her capacity as Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party".
And that's reasonable. The OIA covers government information, created or held by Ministers or agencies. It doesn't cover political parties, or information created or held by politicians in their political capacity as MP's or party leaders. And while that distinction can and has been abused by (National) Ministers playing the "hat game", I'm satisfied that the Ombudsman can tell the difference between what is official and what is not.
