.....but what is being done to make ministers comply with the OIA?
The Prime Minister’s proposals to hobble political lobbyists were the big headline-grabbing announcement on the Beehive website when we checked this morning.
Chris Hipkins yesterday announced four measures to put lobbyists on the same footing as any other citizen who might want to contact the inhabitants of the Beehive.
But one of those measures is a call for advice which he won’t receive until next year and two of the others are requests for someone else to take the action he wants taken.
Hipkins talked of “greater transparency” around lobbying at Parliament.
Journalists inevitably linked this with the political downfall of former cabinet minister Stuart Nash (who will not be standing for re-election later this year).
But the much bigger transparency issue raised by the disclosures that led to Nash’s sacking from the Cabinet had much more to do with the Official Information Act and flagrant ministerial disregard for its requirements. Here’s hoping for an announcement of reforms on that front.
For now, we learn from the Beehive website –
Journalists inevitably linked this with the political downfall of former cabinet minister Stuart Nash (who will not be standing for re-election later this year).
But the much bigger transparency issue raised by the disclosures that led to Nash’s sacking from the Cabinet had much more to do with the Official Information Act and flagrant ministerial disregard for its requirements. Here’s hoping for an announcement of reforms on that front.
For now, we learn from the Beehive website –
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced several steps to introduce greater transparency around lobbying at Parliament.
A number of cyclone affected communities in Tairāwhiti have been reconnected following the opening of a temporary bypass on Stage Highway 35 north of Tokomaru Bay.
Chris Hipkins recalled that the privileged access to politicians of lobbyists had been raised two weeks ago, when he had said he would go away and look at the rules around it and whether they needed strengthening.
“I’ve done that,” Chris Hipkins said.
“It’s very important we have a sensible and transparent system that does not give the impression that lobbyists enjoy an unfair advantage over other New Zealanders.
“Today I’m setting out four changes to help build greater transparency and balance around lobbying.
First, he has commissioned “a major piece of work” that will look at policy options for regulating lobbying activities.
This kicks the issue into touch until beyond the election, because – as Hipkins said:
“To do it well, will require considerable work and consultation and I anticipate the advice coming back in 2024.
“This was last looked at in 2012 and ultimately didn’t land because it was too broad in scope. I want Parliament to take another look, learning the lessons from that process.”
While this work is under way, the PM said there are three measures the government will take straight away.
The first of these relates to swipe-card access for lobbyists to Parliament. Some lobbyists – as well as business and union representatives – have swipe-card access to Parliament Buildings and the Beehive. Hipkins says “they should go through the front door like every other New Zealander”.
But this can’t be initiated by the Government because Parliament is controlled by the Speaker. Hipkins can only do the best he can, which is to write to the Speaker to express the Government’s view this access should be removed.
“I want, as much as possible, for this to be a bi-partisan issue and I call on other political parties to support this measure.”
Next, Hipkins is calling on “third-party lobbyists” to develop a voluntary code of conduct that would enhance transparency by, for example, including the names of the clients they represent on their websites.
“Others involved in lobbying, for instance peak bodies, industry associations and other entities may also wish to sign up for this as well.
“The Government will offer assistance from the Ministry of Justice to help draft the code and to provide research on overseas practises and guidance.”
Significantly, the PM is distinguishing “third-party lobbyists” from business organisations and trade unions, who will be affected only if they decide that doing what he wants done is a good idea.
Finally, Hipkins says a “refreshed Cabinet Manual that is being published this month” makes it clear that, while in office, Ministers’ conduct and decisions should not be influenced by the prospect or expectation of future employment with a particular organisation or sector.
Hipkins also released the terms of reference for the review into Stuart Nash’s ministerial communications with donors.
The review will be carried out by the Secretary of the Cabinet and is expected to report back in two months.
It will look at whether there were other breaches of Cabinet collective responsibility or confidentiality, or perceived or actual conflicts of interest in communications he had with people and entities who made declared donations to his 2017 or 2020 electorate campaigns.
Communications in scope are those by letter, email, text message, WhatsApp or Signal between 26 October, 2017 and 28 Match, 2023 when Nash held ministerial portfolios.
“New Zealand should rightly be proud of our open and accessible government. I hope these measures will go some way to further increase transparency and the integrity of government.”
Political commentator Richard Harman, on Politik, notes that the Government’s withdrawal of Parliamentary access cards for lobbyists (more accurately, it is a request for the Speaker to withdraw the cards)
“… is largely symbolic and, in practice, pointless. But it is a revealing insight into the Government’s sensitivity over the Nash affair”.
That is because the cards only get the lobbyists and others through the door. If the lobbyists wanted to visit a Minister – or even the Opposition — they needed someone from the office they are visiting to come and escort them.
The same rules apply to the Press Gallery.
“The announcement by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins yesterday was plainly in response to the revelations about Stuart Nash and his donors, but neither Troy Bowker nor Greg Loveridge was on the lobbyists’ card list.
“Ironically three of the four chiefs of staff to Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins (GJ Thompson, Mike Munro, Andrew Kirton) have been on the list of cardholders. The former Chief of Staff to John Key, Wayne Eagleson, is also on the list.”
As Harman reports, Hipkins acknowledged the withdrawal of the access cards would have little practical effect.
Meanwhile, Newsroom reports:
As the Ombudsman investigates whether an email from Stuart Nash sharing Cabinet discussions with political donors was improperly withheld, observers are calling for official information breaches to be met with more than a slap on the wrist.”
Legal experts and open government advocates are calling on the Government to introduce sanctions for failing to comply with official information laws, after the Stuart Nash saga.
This report recalls that Nash was dismissed from Cabinet last week after Stuff published details of an email he sent to campaign donors detailing internal Cabinet discussions on a topic where they held a commercial interest (the Government’s commercial rent relief package during the Covid-19 pandemic).
It later emerged that two staff in former prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s office had been made aware of the email’s existence, after it was identified in relation to an Official Information Act (OIA) request in 2021 from Newsroom contributor Pete McKenzie about written correspondence between Nash and his donors.
The email was not released to McKenzie. Nash’s office said it “[held nothing] that is within the scope of your request as the act relates only to information provided to me as minister”.
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has reopened an investigation into a complaint about the decision to withhold the information.
Several legal experts meanwhile have said the email should have been released and some are calling for greater penalties to guard against deliberate non-compliance with the law.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
1 comment:
Probably just another case of grand announcements being left to wither and die like the majority of the cults aspirations. Note that is timed to not come into effect until after they are job hunting, which leaves them a gap to try to slip through.
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