13880 (2025). Camilla Belich to the Minister of Police

13880 (2025). Camilla Belich to the Minister of Police: On how many occasions, if any, since 27 November 2023, has the Minister intervened in, overruled, or influenced a decision made by any agency under their responsibility, and what were the circumstances of each instance?

Hon Mark Mitchell: The roles and responsibility of a minister are set out in the Cabinet Manual, which is available on the following website: https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/our-business-units/cabinet-office/supporting-work-cabinet/cabinet-manual/3-ministers-crown-and-public-sector/ministers-and-public-service. As a Minister, I am responsible for deciding both the direction of and the priorities for the agencies for which I hold portfolio responsibilities and I may give those agencies lawful directions. As a result, there are occasions on which I have appropriately had input into the agencies’ actions but these inputs are not collated or registered in a way that could be included in a single answer. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has statutory independence from the Minister in matters relating to operational investigations and prosecutions. The SFO has regular discussions with the Minister in relation to non-operational matters, including fraud and corruption prevention initiatives. The titles of briefings and memos that the Minister has received from the SFO, including decisions or indications sought by the SFO from the Minister, are periodically proactively released and can be found at: https://sfo.govt.nz/publications/proactive-information-releases/