6348 (2025). Tamatha Paul to the Minister for Children

6348 (2025). Tamatha Paul to the Minister for Children: What events or meetings, if any, did the Minister decline to attend during the week beginning 17 February 2025, including location, event description, and attendees?

Hon Karen Chhour: I am advised that, to the best of my Office’s records, two invitations were declined during the week beginning 17 February 2025. • Families Achieving Balance; Tauranga; Visit to Bay of Plenty offices • 34th Anniversary of the Liberation Day of the State of Kuwait; Wellington Notes: • While my Office keeps records of invitations to ‘events’, it is administratively difficult to accurately identify all ‘meetings’ and whether they are declined or accepted, as generally meetings do not have a specific date. Requests for a ‘meeting’ may take some weeks or even months to progress from invitation to actually taking place, depending on a range of factors such as scheduling. • The above list relates to events that were declined during the time period asked, not the dates of the events themselves. • Generally, invitations are accepted/declined on my behalf by my Office staff, rather than by me personally. It is possible that I may not even be made aware of the invitation. • Declining an invitation should not be interpreted as a lack of my interest/willingness to attend the event in question. • Generally, my Office and I are not aware of who attended events that I myself did not attend.