Summarised by Centrist
Police repeatedly withheld information about an Electoral Commission referral involving Te Pāti Māori by saying an investigation was active. Police now says that investigation had already been closed in January 2024 with no further action.
The referral concerned text messages promoting Te Pāti Māori before the 2023 election that allegedly did not include the legally required promoter statement.
In July 2024, Police confirmed receiving Electoral Commission complaints concerning Te Pāti Māori and Manurewa Marae but refused an Official Information Act request because “these cases are all still active investigations”.
A second request in August 2025 specifically sought information about the text-message referral, including when it was received, when the investigation began and ended, and whether any warning was issued.
Police again refused, stating: “As this matter is currently an active investigation, your request is refused under section 6(c) of the OIA.” The response was signed by Territorial Detective Superintendent Ross McKay.
But a third OIA response released by X account Suit and tie on 9 September 2026 tells a much different story.
“The investigation is not ongoing and has been concluded,” Police said. More importantly, it stated: “The investigation was closed in January 2024 with no further action.”
The first OIA covered several complaints, so Police could have been referring to other active matters in that response. The 2025 request, however, directly identified the promoter-statement investigation that Police now says had been closed about 19 months earlier.
The documents do not explain whether the earlier refusal was a mistake, whether Police records were wrong, or why a senior officer invoked an active-investigation exemption for a case that was no longer active.
Whatever happened to the original complaint, Police now have another question to answer: why was the public told an investigation remained open long after it had apparently been closed?
Re-published from the Centrist with permission
