“Too comfortable with secrecy” – Ombudsman intervention forces KiwiRail to release resignation letters

After initially declining Official Information requests made by the New Zealand Herald, KiwiRail has finally released its board members’ letters of resignation following interventions made by the Ombudsman.

“State-owned enterprises are now too comfortable burying the lead when they should be held accountable to its shareholders – the New Zealand taxpayer” said Sam Warren, Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman.

“We’re seeing an ever-growing reluctance from a number of organisations to comply with requests for Official Information – despite a clear legislative requirement to do so.”

“Hiding behind veils of bureaucracy and baseless excuses of ‘commercial sensitivity’ has allowed SOEs to effectively game the OIA process designed to improve transparency.”

“It’s well and good the Ombudsman acted on this, but discouraging to know that this was even required. So much more needs to be done in this space to improve accountability.”

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