The Department of Internal Affairs says it holds two documents that are letters between Amazon Web Services and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
A giant US tech firm that is among a slew of companies building data centres here, corresponded directly with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
An OIA response has revealed this during RNZ inquiries into ministerial support and advocacy sought by seven tech companies in interactions with Digital Economy Minister David Clark.
RNZ's earlier inquiries showed officials told the government that Amazon Web Services (AWS) had "posed several requests as part of its investment commitment".
RNZ then asked the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) for copies of these requests, and for details of any individual request by AWS that relates in any way to the government or any part of it being asked by AWS for support or concession or similar.
In a new OIA response yesterday, DIA said it held two documents that "are letters between AWS and the Prime Minister, sent on 3 September, 2021 and 11 July, 2022".
"Both letters are being withheld in full."
"This was on commercial grounds and to enable a minister or public agency to carry on negotiations "without prejudice or disadvantage," the department said.
RNZ has approached the PM for comment. AWS declined to comment.
DIA also cited a third document, 'AWS Economic Impact Study: AWS Investment in New Zealand'.
The study flagged the government as a major customer for data centres based here, instead of overseas as all the hyper ones are currently.
"New Zealand local cloud infrastructure can give government agencies greater confidence as they migrate to the public cloud from their existing Infrastructure-as-a-Service providers," the 19-page, 2021 report said.
"Large-scale public-sector re-platforming projects can benefit from the availability of this local public cloud solution in the near future."
The government has directed all agencies to have a cloud-first policy when it comes to data storage and services.
Data centres are a multi-billion-dollar, fast-growing business globally.
New Zealand is attractive in part because of its high proportion of sustainable electricity, with power-hungry data centres increasingly marketing themselves as being 'green'.
AWS in its report said its investment here was "also good for the environment", because hyper-centres like the ones it was building, were more efficient than smaller data centres run on-site by individual companies.
It estimates its data centres will boost the economy by $10.8b and create 1000 jobs across 15 years.