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What external legal costs, if any, were incurred by any department or entity for which the Minister is responsible in each financial year since 2020/21, broken down by department or entity and by the nature of the legal work (litigation, commercial advice, employment matters, Treaty matters, or other)?

Answered Question 9399 (2026)
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Asked by

Camilla Belich

List MP · Labour Party

Question

  • What external legal costs, if any, were incurred by any department or entity for which the Minister is responsible in each financial year since 2020/21, broken down by department or entity and by the nature of the legal work (litigation, commercial advice, employment matters, Treaty matters, or other)?

Answered by

Hon Mark Mitchell

Member for Whangaparāoa · National Party · Minister of Police

Answer

I am advised by Police that invoices are not recorded by the nature of legal work. With how the expenditure is recorded, it is not possible to retrospectively categorise the expenditure for external legal costs without a detailed, manual review of each individual transaction. The time and associated cost in obtaining this information are not, in my view, justifiable.