Letters to Ardern from data centre company withheld

WELLINGTON: A giant US technology firm that is among a slew of companies building data centres in New Zealand corresponded directly with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

The revelation came through an Official Information Act request by RNZ into ministerial support and advocacy sought by seven tech companies in interactions with Digital Economy Minister Dr David Clark.

RNZ’s earlier inquiries showed officials told the Government that Amazon Web Services (AWS) had ‘‘posed several requests as part of its investment commitment’’.

RNZ then asked the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) for copies of these requests, and for details of any individual request by AWS that relates in any way to the Government or any part of it being asked by

AWS for support or concession or similar.

In a new OIA response on Thursday, DIA said it held two documents that ‘‘are letters between AWS and the Prime Minister, sent on 3 September, 2021 and 11 July, 2022’’.

‘‘Both letters are being withheld in full.’’

‘‘This was on commercial grounds and to enable a minister or public agency to carry on negotiations without prejudice or disadvantage,’’ the department said.

RNZ has approached AWS and Ms Ardern for comment.

DIA also cited a third document, ‘‘AWS Economic Impact Study: AWS Investment in New Zealand’’.

The study flagged the Government as a major customer for data centres based in New Zealand, instead of overseas as all the hyper ones are at present.

‘‘New Zealand local cloud infrastructure can give government agencies greater confidence as they migrate to the public cloud from their existing InfrastructureasaService providers,’’ the 19page, 2021 report said.

The Government has directed all agencies to have a cloudfirst policy when it comes to data storage and services.

Data centres are a multibilliondollar, fastgrowing business globally.

New Zealand is attractive in part because of its high proportion of sustainable electricity available to powerhungry data centres, increasingly marketing themselves as being ‘‘green’’.

AWS estimates its data centres will boost the economy by $10.8 billion and create 1000 jobs across 15 years. — RNZ