Last election, Labour had a comprehensive “Open Government” policy which set out the need for transparency and access to information (while balancing with the need for “free and frank advice” and protection of “security and commercially sensitive information). Work is well underway for the release of Labour’s updated Open Government policy.

But while digging deeper into this issue, I’ve become increasingly concerned at what I can only conclude is either deliberate or astonishingly reckless non-compliance by this government with the requirements of the Official Information Act (OIA).

Far too often, information requests my Parliamentary colleagues and I ask of ministers or departments are responded to late or inadequately. On a disturbingly large number of occasions, requests are simply not responded to at all. Is this new? No I’m sure it isn’t. Is it getting worse? I think it is.

This concerns me. I’ve been collating examples where ministers and departments have been flouting the requirements of the Act. This list is growing nearly every day.

And as I’m reviewing these examples, what concerns me most is that while my Parliamentary colleagues and I are familiar with the process, the legislation, the game. But many ordinary New Zealanders aren’t.

MPs are aware of how to word questions to get the information sought and escalate any complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman. But if this obfuscation is happening to us, what is the Government doing to average New Zealanders?

I am profiling each  Minister in turn outlining the researching the adequacy (or inadequacy) of their responses to Official Information Act requests. In March, we sent a request to all Ministers asking for the number of OIA requests received between 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2013, the number transferred, extended, responded to within the 20 working day limit, responded to late or not responded to at all.

I have also sent OIAs to each Ministry and Department. Their responses will also be profiled.

Keep an eye on these posts. They tell a story.

Clare

The right to know: Steven Joyce

As outlined in my previous post my team and I have been researching the adequacy of Ministers’ responses to Official Information Act requests. In March, we sent a request to all Ministers asking for the number of OIA requests received between 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2013, the number transferred, extended, responded to within the 20 working day limit, responded to late or not responded to at all.

The responses we received were mixed; some Ministers were quite forthcoming, while others gave the barest minimum of responses. And two just didn’t respond at all.

In this post I’m going to profile Hon Steven Joyce, infamous Minister of Everything. Joyce responded to our OIAs with a list of requests received in the time frame and the date they were responded to, but withheld any details about transferred requests and when they were transferred as well as requests refused.

Read Full Post Here

The right to know: Judith Collins

This is the third post in a series of post based on research around the adequacy of Ministers responses to Official Information Act requests. In March, we sent a request to all Ministers asking for the number of OIA requests received between 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2013, the number transferred, extended, responded to within the 20 working day limit, responded to late or not responded to at all.

The responses we received were mixed; some Ministers were quite forthcoming, while others gave the barest minimum of responses. Two just didn’t respond at all.

In this post I’m going to profile Hon Judith Collins, Minister of Justice.

Read Full Post Here

The right to know: Tariana Turia

This is the fourth post (and part of a series) resulting from  research into the adequacy of Ministers responses to Official Information Act requests. In March, we sent a request to all Ministers asking for the number of OIA requests received between 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2013, the number transferred, extended, responded to within the 20 working day limit, responded to late or not responded to at all.

The responses we received were mixed; some Ministers were quite forthcoming, while others gave the barest minimum of responses. And two just didn’t respond at all.

In this post I’m going to profile Hon Tariana Turia, Co-Leader of the Māori Party and Minister for Disability Issues, Whanua Ora, Associate Social Development, Associate Minister of Health and Associate Minister of Housing.

Minister Turia’s response broke down the number of requests by portfolio, she has not received any requests as Associate Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment.

Read Full Post Here

The right to know: Jo Goodhew

This is the fifth post (and part of a series)  on the adequacy of Ministers’ responses to Official Information Act (OIA) requests. In March, we sent a request to all Ministers asking for the number of OIA requests received between 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2013, the number transferred, extended, responded to within the 20 working day limit, responded to late or not responded to at all.

The responses we received were mixed; some Ministers were quite forthcoming, while others gave the barest minimum of responses. And two just didn’t respond at all.

This post gives credit where credit is due.

Hon Jo Goodhew, Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, Senior Citizens, Women’s Affairs and Associate Minister of Health and for Primary Industries gave one of the most complete responses we received in this exercise.

Read Full Post Here

The right to know: Jonathan Coleman

From one extreme to the other, this is now my sixth post in a series exposing the disregard of our current Government for the Official Information Act and this one is a doozy.

In March, we sent a request to all Ministers asking for the number of OIA requests received between 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2013, the number transferred, extended, responded to within the 20 working day limit, responded to late or not responded to at all.

The responses we received were mixed; some Ministers were quite forthcoming, while others gave the barest minimum of responses. And two just didn’t respond at all.

Given Jonathan Coleman’s track record I guess I should be glad he responded at all, suffice to say he wasn’t particularly forthcoming and the following graph comes with a few pre-requisites.

See here for the Ministers raw response, as you can see he has provided us with the bare minimum of dates and no more. So we have had to make a few assertions in our crunching of the numbers.

Read Full Post Here

The right to know: Chris Finlayson

In March, we sent a request to all Ministers asking for the number of Official Information Act (OIA) requests received between 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2013, the number transferred, extended, responded to within the 20 working day limit, responded to late or not responded to at all.

The responses we received were mixed; some Ministers were quite forthcoming, while others gave the barest minimum of responses. And two just didn’t respond at all.

The inadequacy of some Ministers’ responses is well evidenced by the Hon Chris Finlayson’s  heavily redacted version of a spreadsheet  showing the date requests were received, due and sent and a yes or no for transfers or extensions. Finlayson is Attorney General, Minister for Treaty negotiations, arts culture and heritage and associate Maori Affairs.

Read Full Post Here

The right to know: Anne Tolley

The seventh post in this series profiles the responses of Hon Anne Tolley to OIA requests. She is the Minister of Police, Corrections and the deputy Leader of the House.

As I have previously outlined, in March, we sent a request to all Ministers asking for the number of OIA requests received between 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2013, the number transferred, extended, responded to within the 20 working day limit, responded to late or not responded to at all.

The responses we received were mixed; some Ministers were quite forthcoming, while others gave the barest minimum of responses. And two just didn’t respond at all.

To be fair to Anne Tolley she has provided us with a fairly comprehensive spread sheet. Her full response is here.  She even included the details of the requestors for the most part.

Read Full Post Here

The right to know: Craig Foss

In this next instalment of The Right to Know series, in which the adequacy of Ministers’ responses to Official Information Act requests are put on the spot, we take a look atHon Craig Foss, Minister of Commerce, Minister of Broadcasting, and Minister for Consumer Affairs.

In order to shed light on the lack of transparency from government Ministers, my team and I have been researching the adequacy of Ministers responses to Official Information Act requests. In March, we sent a request to all Ministers asking for the number of OIA requests received between 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2013, the number transferred, extended, responded to within the 20 working day limit, responded to late or not responded to at all.

In response to my OIA request, Craig Foss provided a  of the dates that OIA request were received by his office, and the date they were responded to, plus any additional information such as the OIA request being transferred or any extensions.

Read Full Post Here

ENDS

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