Earlier this year the adviser wrote to Clark, pointing out that the committee had been operating in breach of its statutory requirements since July 2021 as it had only six members instead of the required seven.

As minister, Clark is required by law to appoint new members to maintain the statutory minimum.

Last week the adviser received a reply from Clark, stating that two new members were appointed in mid-April. But the minister failed to give their names and, two months later, the committee’s website is still showing only six members.

Good Returns emailed committee chairman Angus Dale-Jones, who is travelling in Europe, asking for the names of the two appointees. Dale-Jones responded by saying he anticipated the committee’s website would be updated “in a few days” and he could talk later in the week when he was back in New Zealand.

The adviser says he is pleased that Clark has formally recognised that the committee did not meet the statutory requirements.

He has searched the committee’s website and that of MBIE but no announcement naming the new members appears to have been made. Nor has there been a release from the minister’s office.

So, he has written back to the minister. “I cannot understand why the appointments you have made have not been publicly promulgated,” he said. “Maybe you would be so kind as to tell us whom you have appointed.”