18717 (2026). Tangi Utikere to the Minister of Transport

Written Question

Published date: 21 May 2026

Metadata

Document type:	Written Question
Parliament number:	54
Question number:	18717 (2026)
Question asked:	06 May 2026
Member asking:	Tangi Utikere
Portfolio:	Minister of Transport
Minister replying:	Hon Chris Bishop
Answer received:	17 May 2026
Status:	Question Answered
Reply type:	Reply
Document ID:	WQ_18717_2026
Document guid:	4ff2a4b7-7b93-4e6d-b0e6-19bda0af50d4

18717 (2026). Tangi Utikere to the Minister of Transport: Further to Replies 13158, 17205, and 17207 (2026), will the Minister identify the individual or individuals within NZTA who made the decision to omit the February 2025 detection from the November 2025 media statement; and if not, why not?

Hon Chris Bishop: NZTA advised me that there was no decision to deliberately omit information. Rather, the February 2025 date was not included because, at that time, the matters identified had not been substantiated as fraud and NZTA considered it inappropriate to reference unconfirmed issues in public statements.