Chief Ombudsman rules Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's office unlawfully withheld a Fonterra/Z Energy climate-lobbying note routed through a staffer's personal email
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New Zealand's Chief Ombudsman, John Allen, ruled that the Prime Minister's Office unreasonably breached the Official Information Act (OIA) when it failed to disclose a briefing note — hand-delivered by Fonterra and Z Energy lobbying for a law change affecting the Smith v Fonterra climate case, then emailed on 25 June 2024 to a former chief policy advisor's personal email — in response to a March 2025 OIA request from the Environmental Law Initiative. Allen said it was 'surprising' the former staffer could not recall what happened to the documents, and warned that government business may be routinely conducted through personal email accounts, calling on Luxon to remind ministerial staff of their OIA obligations.
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