54532 (2025). Camilla Belich to the Minister for the Public Service

54532 (2025). Camilla Belich to the Minister for the Public Service: On what date and at what time did the Minister personally become aware that the advertisements involved paid promotion, given her amended answer to oral question that stated her office had been informed on 17 October 2025?

Hon Judith Collins: As detailed in my personal explanation in the House, I had no advance knowledge of the Public Service Commission's intention to pay for advertising to reach audiences affected by the strikes. I became personally aware that the social media posts involved paid promotion on 20 October after the first ads were published. As per my personal explanation, it was not until the evening of 13 November 2025 that my staff discovered that they had in fact been informed on 17 October 2025 (via an update to an A3 attachment in an email), that communications would include paid social media. Earlier information from the Public Service Commission had not advised that it would be paid and the subsequent addition of the word "paid" to the A3 attachment was not identified by my Office. The Public Service Commission also did not highlight the addition of the word "paid" as it has used paid social media before, most recently in 2022. Senior officials from the PSC involved in oral question preparation were also unaware that my Office had been informed on 17 October that the communications would include paid advertising.