Has the Minister or their staff had any discussions with any officials who planned to charge for replying to Official Information Act requests and if so, what advice, if any, did they provide those officials?

Answer

As no responses to Official Information Act requests placed with the Minister for Rail have been charged, no and none. To the extent that companies for which we are shareholders might have determined a charge is necessary, that is an independent operational decision for the company. KiwiRail advised our Office of one such request which was proposed to be charged for, given the extent of the information requested and the work involved in collating it, and our Office noted that advice. it is our understanding that the request did not progress. Ferry Holdings Limited have not charged for Official Information Act request collation.