Skip to main content

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 9511 (2026)
Question published
Reply lodged
Bookmark

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 Simon Watts

Member for North Shore · National Party · Minister for Energy

Answer

EA: The Authority’s external legal costs for each financial year since 2021 are set out in the table below. The Authority’s functions include making secondary legislation through the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010, monitoring and enforcing compliance with the Code market-facilitation measures and contracting for market operation services. We use external lawyers to certify Code amendments, assist with enforcement as necessary and advise as required on proposed Code changes, our statutory framework and contractual matters. We have a separate litigation fund for challenges to decisions made by the Authority (the litigation costs below are primarily met from this fund). EECA: See attached response.

Answer attachment

Download WQ_09511_2026.pdf

application/pdf · 43,676 bytes