58445 (2025). Francisco Hernandez to the Prime Minister

58445 (2025). Francisco Hernandez to the Prime Minister: How much, if any, did the Minister’s departments, agencies, crown entities and any other bodies that the Minister is responsible for, if any, spend on christmas, holiday, end of year, and any other types of celebratory functions or parties during November and December in 2020?

Rt Hon Christopher Luxon: In my capacity as Prime Minister, I am the responsible minister for the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC). I am advised by DPMC that the costs for Christmas, holiday, end of year, and any other types of celebratory functions or parties during November and December covering the period 2020 to 2024 are not held in a format that can easily be extracted. To provide this information requires a manual search of payment transactions, and their supporting invoices or other detail, for the requested months in each of the five years. It is my view that the application of additional recourses to answer this and similar questions is not a good use of taxpayer funds and therefore not in the public interest. Regarding 2025, I am advised that DPMC does not specifically budget for Christmas, holiday, year-end, or other celebratory functions or events. DPMC expenditure for events is in line with its Hospitality, Gifts, Koha and Entertainment Policy.