📸

grappling with Dotcom and his entourage. As the application was being processed, Customs NZ was asked to provide special treatment for the tycoon when he arrived by private jet. A briefing to Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman at the time shows he was being kept informed on the application — and the potential problems. Documents later released carried heavy deletions with officials citing sections of the Official Information Act rarely used to withhold information. One section was relating to information provided from a foreign government while another preserved the right to “the prevention, investigation, and detection of offences, and the right to a fair trial”.

It is unknown whether details stemming from an examination of Dotcom's past by New Zealand's domestic intelligence service, the Security Intelligence Service, were included. On 13 October the SIS put Dotcom's application on hold. Of significance, Dotcom later said, was a meeting between the SIS and Key on 12 October. There was no reason stated for putting the application on hold but details later emerged showing that after doing so the SIS wrote to the Police to report the FBI investigation into Dotcom.

The ban on Dotcom's residency was lifted on 28 October 2010 — just a few days before the expiry of the 1 November deadline Dotcom's advisors had given immigration officials.

The date was significant for Hollywood and John Key. October 2010 was the crunch month for negotiations over The Hobbit, a series of movies to be made by Sir Peter Jackson to follow his Oscar-winning depiction of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The films had been made in New Zealand, driving the country's ambitions and ability to develop and grow its own film industry. Studios filming big budget productions in New Zealand already received concessions worth millions of dollars. Once a production topped $15 million in spending, it received back 15 per cent of its total spend.

But Hobbit producers Warner Bros and New Line Cinema said the rising New Zealand dollar and competing bids from overseas, along with an employment ruling, had them looking elsewhere. They wanted more out of the deal than previously. Prime Minister John Key called the industrial law a “deal breaker” which directly threatened the productions being made in New Zealand. Hollywood studio bosses (Warner Bros Home Entertainment president Kevin Tsujihara and New Line Cinema president Toby Emmerich) flew to New Zealand and over the course of 27-28 October had direct negotiations with Key, leading to a law change and even greater financial concessions. The day after, the NZ Security Intelligence Service lifted its objection to Dotcom's residency. Immigration NZ was given a green light, and Dotcom was granted residency and welcomed to the country on 15 December 2010. He showed his appreciation with the waterfront fireworks display about

185

📸