An Official Information Act (OIA) response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) to Newstalk ZB Plus has shed more light on former Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta's questionable response to the Hamas terror attack on Israel. 

The OIA reveals that the ministry's Middle East and Africa Division emailed the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Mahuta’s office at 9pm on October 7 with a situational briefing of the attack, suggested talking points for the minister and Prime Minister and a draft tweet to be sent by Mahuta. 

The briefing email including the talking point, "Aotearoa New Zealand unequivocally condemns rocket and terror attacks from Gaza into Israel and calls for their immediate cessation."  The draft tweet included that statement along with the sentence, "With a high risk of escalation, the protection of civilians, and upholding of international humanitarian law is essential." 

However, a summary of events contained in the OIA response stated that Mahuta's office “disagreed with the wording of the draft tweet”. 

The ministry then formulated a second draft to Mahuta. 

Mahuta's X post on the morning of October 8 stated that New Zealand was "deeply concerned at the outbreak of conflict between Israel and Gaza", before calling for an immediate cessation of violence and the protection of all civilians.  

At a press conference later that day, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins faced questions from the media about why the Government's response had changed from expressing "deep concern" to one of "condemnation".  

In response to a question about whether his Foreign Minister was out-of-step, Hipkins said, "No, I think it's just a reflection of overnight, the timing, in terms of when we got the information through about the scale of what was happening there, so this is my first opportunity to issue a formal statement." 

A second question from media asked whether Mahuta's response had been strong enough, to which Hipkins responded, "Look, I think from time to time a response will evolve as further information comes to light and we get more information.  What the world should be assured by is that New Zealand absolutely condemns these attacks." 

MFAT's OIA response, including the revelation that Mahuta and Hipkins received a briefing at 9pm the night before, raises questions about whether the Prime Minister knew that his Foreign Minister had deviated from MFAT advice at the time of his interview. 

A government spokesperson refused to confirm to Newstalk ZB Plus when the Prime Minister first became aware that his Foreign Minister was not following MFAT advice. 

When asked about the Prime Minister's questionable response to Mahuta's differing position on the attacks and whether it was misleading, a government spokesperson told Newstalk ZB Plus the issue "was addressed at the time". 

“Nanaia Mahuta has said publicly herself the first tweet could have been clearer," the spokesperson said yesterday. 

"New Zealand’s position is and always has been one of absolute condemnation of these terror attacks – she has said that herself.” 

Later on October 8, Mahuta published another tweet that was more in line with Hipkins’ comments by calling the incident “terrorist attacks led by Hamas on Israel”. 

Nevertheless, Act’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Brooke van Velden yesterday called on Mahuta to use her last day as minister to explain why the initial draft tweet was refused. 

“Mahuta had a clear option to denounce barbaric aggression but chose not to. Why?” van Velden said. 

“The situation in the Middle East is horrific, and New Zealand’s influence over that horrific situation is limited to its moral authority. 

“When our Foreign Minister cannot make clear moral judgements, even when the right thing to do is literally spelled out to her, it harms our whole country.” 

Israel Institute of New Zealand president David Cumin said it was “deeply disappointing” Mahuta didn’t accept the initial draft, as her published tweet made New Zealand look “out of step” with the rest of the world, he believed. 

“She was hours late to the party in the first instance and now that we know what we know, it’s pretty clear that she wasn’t using the correct terminology,” Cumin said. 

Mahuta has not responded to the NZME's request for comment. 

Mahuta is no longer an MP after losing her Hauraki-Waikato seat at the 2023 election. She is also no longer the Foreign Affairs Minister, with the role since handed to long-serving MP Grant Robertson.