Defence Minister Judith Collins, whose office asked for some details to be redacted. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Defence Minister Judith Collins' office tried to keep secret the Defence Force's criticism of another minister's comments about boot camps, new documents show.
Collins' office wanted the rebuke redacted from an email which was to be released under the Official Information Act (OIA), but the NZDF sent the original draft copy instead, seemingly by mistake.
As RNZ reported in July, the NZDF email flagged concern about a radio interview given by Police Minister Mark Mitchell about the boot camp scheme, warning his remarks risked causing "public misunderstanding" by overstating NZDF involvement.
However, new correspondence also obtained under the OIA reveals those details were not intended to be made public.
Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER
RNZ in early May, lodged an initial OIA request with the NZDF for any advice provided to ministers relating to the boot camp plan, known formally as Young Offender Military Academies.
In mid-June, an NZDF staffer emailed Collins' private secretary with an "attached draft" response for RNZ which included the critical email.
"Please let me know if you have any issues," the staffer signed off.
A day later, Collins' private secretary replied with "some feedback from the office" and asked that the paragraph criticising Mitchell's interview be redacted under section 9(2)(g)(i) of the OIA.
The Ombudsman says that section allows information to be withheld if its release would "inhibit the future exchange of free and frank opinions... necessary for the effective conduct of public affairs".
The secretary also requested more time in order to consult Mitchell's office. Three days later, they confirmed "Mitchell's office are happy with this [revised] response".
The day before the information was to be sent out, the NZDF staffer again checked in with Collins' team: "Please confirm you are happy for this response to go".
A reply from Collins' office came quickly: "Yes thanks - all good with the version I attached last week (with the para redacted)."
Despite that, the version sent to RNZ contained the paragraph unredacted.
Nearly a week later, the private secretary alerted the Defence Force that the response sent and then published online was a "different version to that approved".
"A paragraph in the email... has not been redacted in full as requested. Too late to change this now... but please make sure this doesn't happen again."
A more senior NZDF official then responded to offer a "sincere apology" and blamed "a lack of attention to detail".
The sentences Collins' office wanted to keep secret:
"The interview [by Mitchell] could be interpreted that the YOMA [Young Offender Military Academies] will be an "extended" LSV [Limited Service Volunteer] programme, staffed by NZDF - which is not accurate.
"The Minister's comments about the success of the LSV course could lead to public misunderstanding about the nature and extent of NZDF's role in YOMA."