Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Māori wards gather momentum, the managed isolation system is effectively full, and drought on the way again in Hawke’s Bay. In the day since an announcement from local government minister Nanaia Mahuta, the concept of Māori wards has generated both momentum and opposition. In case you … Read more
When random attacks are only a moment’s inattention away, government officials learn to watch their step when committing anything to the written record, writes Tony Burton. My guess is that even those who follow politics will struggle to remember the kerfuffle when a 2011 Official Information Act (OIA) request found an email ‘from Treasury’ that … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Heavy fallout from axing of capital gains tax, cost blowout for City Rail Link, and wrongly evicted Housing NZ tenants to get debt wiped. PM Jacinda Ardern has ruled out a capital gains tax. Not only now, mind you, she’s ruled out Labour ever campaigning on it … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. Rate of inflation higher for those with less, Winston Peters is going to China, and the government backtracks on much–needed Official Information Act reforms. The rate of inflation, typically assumed to be low recently in New Zealand, has been found to be higher for those who can least … Read more
Concerned about the results of an official information request showing an estimated $40,000 being spent dealing with one NZ organisation’s official information demands, the Spinoff seeks comment from public spending grassroots watchdog the Taxpayers’ Union. Not all heroes wear capes, but if there is any justice in this benighted world Jordan Williams has one in … Read more
Even what should be straightforward requests under the Official Information Act now risk getting kicked into the long and prickly grass. Sam Warburton recounts his latest painful experience. How many public servants does it take to change a lightbulb? Hopefully fewer than the 50 it takes to process an Official Information Act request. Researchers and … Read more
The Official Information Act is being badly undermined and our transport planning system is broken. Researcher Harriet Gale reports on the nonsense at the heart of both problems. Sir Geoffrey Palmer has written just recently about the failure of the Official Information Act to provide true government transparency. He noted that as a country we … Read more
Democracy around the world is under threat, and New Zealand is not immune. Here, government attitudes to official information are hampering democratic debate and accountability, writes Sir Geoffrey Palmer. Throughout the western world, democracy is facing challenging times. People are trusting politicians and political processes less than they used to. Brexit and Donald Trump are … Read more
Public bodies are increasingly demanding dosh from media making Official Information Act requests. We want your money, too. OIA! That’s the anguished sound of journalists across the country receiving responses to requests under the Official Information Act that go something like “Dreadfully sorry, O Intrepid Seeker of the Truth but we can’t provide the information … Read more