Google serve up alphabet soup

At least two Cabinet ministers attended a dinner at an exclusive club hosted by Google’s top lawyer under secretive ‘‘Chatham House’’ rules, but made no notes of what was discussed.

National MP and open government spokesman Nick Smith blasted their attendance, accusing Labour of hypocrisy.

Google’s chief counsel, Kent Walker, hosted the dinner at the capital’s swanky Wellington Club for invited guests who included Justice Minister Andrew Little, Open Government Minister Clare Curran and top public servants and lawyers.

Walker’s visit came at a time when the world’s fifth largest company faces the possibility of additional regulation in the areas of tax, privacy and competition policy.

Little said in a letter sent in response to an Official Information Act request that he didn’t generate any notes or memos from the event.

A spokeswoman for Curran said she hadn’t either.

An invite sent to Little by Google’s chief lobbyist in Wellington, Ross Young, and released by Little under the OIA, said the June 21 dinner would be a ‘‘discussion under the Chatham House rule’’, which bars people attending a meeting from saying who said what.

The email said Walker would share his thoughts and insights into global legal and policy trends, including in the areas of privacy, publishing and ‘‘public trust’’.

Google did not respond to a request for comment on exactly what messages it was hoping to get across.

Smith said: ‘‘There are very sensitive and important issues around the Government’s rewrite of the Privacy Act and fair tax being paid by global corporates so there needs to be a high level of global transparency in discussions with the likes of Google.’’