Reserve Bank chairman Neil Quigley made the comments in an email to Treasury. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The Reserve Bank chairman warned the Treasury it would “immediately destroy the goodwill” between the two entities if it publicly released details of a fateful meeting before Adrian Orr’s resignation as governor.
Neil Quigley expressed shock that the Treasury would even create minutes of the meeting without disclosing it to him or the central bank.
The legal director of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) also suggested that recording such details and then disclosing them would inhibit the willingness of the RBNZ to meet with the Treasury in certain circumstances.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis told the Herald she disagrees with Quigley’s comments because “it’s entirely appropriate for Treasury officials to take minutes of a significant government meeting”.
But she said she was “absolutely” confident Treasury and the RBNZ could continue working together constructively.
Emails released under the Official Information Act (OIA), first shared by former RBNZ manager and blogger Michael Reddell, show correspondence in April between Quigley and an official at Treasury as the body prepared responses to requests for information.
Treasury was considering the release of minutes of a meeting involving the Minister of Finance.
This was captured by an OIA request asking for correspondence between the Treasury and Willis’ office on Orr’s resignation or about the bank between February 3 and March 6.
There was a meeting involving Willis, Orr and Treasury staff on February 24. The minutes of that were later released, showing Orr left early and disagreed with Treasury over the amount of government funding deemed necessary for the bank.
On April 3, an official from Treasury emailed Quigley asking for his views on whether any sections of the document needed to be redacted, and under what grounds of the OIA.
Quigley responded to the Treasury officials with shock.
“I am frankly shocked that Treasury would have taken it upon itself to create such a minute without disclosing this to me or others at the bank. I am also shocked that the comments are so detailed,” he said.
“There is no way that I can give you comments tomorrow, as this will require the full force of RBNZ legal advice to be brought to bear on it. Suffice to say that if the minute was released in anything like its current form, it would immediately destroy the goodwill between Treasury and the bank that I have tried to create over the past few years.”
The next day, RBNZ director of legal services Nick McBride got involved, noting the chairman had “expressed his concern” about details being released.
“It seems clear to me that the meeting referred to involved an exchange of free and frank opinion, and even if the note tries to be quite careful with its summary, recording such detail of the discussions and disclosing it would undoubtedly inhibit future expression of opinion and the willingness of the RBNZ to meet with Treasury and MoF [Ministry of Finance] in certain circumstances.”
He said there were also concerns about how this “will impact on confidentiality obligations agreed by RBNZ with Adrian as terms of his departure”.
There appears to have been a meeting about the release of some information. McBride later emailed saying he had consulted Quigley, and he approved some redactions.
Willis told the Herald she was aware of Quigley’s email.
“I disagree with the views put forward by the chair because I think it’s entirely appropriate for Treasury officials to take minutes of a significant government meeting,” she said.
She also expressed disagreement with McBride’s comments.
“My view is that wherever possible, public institutions should be transparent and accountable, bearing in mind any other legal obligations they have.
“On this matter, the Treasury formed a clear view that it was in the public interest to release that information, and I agree with their decision.”
She said the two bodies could work together constructively and had been in recent meetings.
“I continue to encourage them to seek a culture of openness and accountability wherever appropriate,” Willis said.
A spokesperson for the Reserve Bank told the Herald the chairman expressed his opinion after Treasury consulted him on the release of a file note of the February 24 meeting.
“Given the general principle set out by the Chief Ombudsman that free and frank comments made during the decision-making process on OIA requests may be withheld, the board chair did not expect that this correspondence would be released.
“However, the decision to release or otherwise was for Treasury to make, and their decision has not impacted on the working relationship between RBNZ and the Treasury. RBNZ remains committed to transparency and fulfilling its obligations under the Official Information Act.”
Treasury said it “maintained a professional relationship over many years” with the RBNZ “and this continues”.
Labour’s finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds said she was concerned about the chairman sending a “very frank email” to what appeared to her to be a more junior manager at Treasury.
She said she would have expressed her concerns directly to Quigley if she was the minister.
The Treasury in July ended up releasing minutes of a meeting after allegations emerged there was more to Orr’s departure than the public was being told.
The meeting minutes showed Orr left early after he “made it clear” he disagreed with Treasury about the amount of government funding deemed necessary for the bank over the next five years. They say he “expressed his frustration regarding the relationship between the RBNZ and the Treasury”.
When Orr resigned, Quigley provided no reason other than saying it was a “personal decision”. This was despite the Herald specifically asking whether the problem was a disagreement over funding. It took until June for the bank to release a statement with an explanation for the resignation.
There has been criticism of the RBNZ over its response to information requests relating to Orr’s resignation. The Ombudsman is currently considering several complaints.
Willis told Quigley after the release of information in June that the bank did not handle responses well and “I expect them to do better”. Quigley later said he regretted delays in providing information.
Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. In 2025, he was a finalist for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.