The Green Party is supporting the announcement made by the Chief Ombudsman on TV3s The Nation that he will produce a league table revealing Government agencies’ lack of compliance with the Official Information Act (OIA).
“We support the Ombudsman’s plan to get the Official Information Act working again after the Government broke it by playing politics with it,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei.
“A league table ranking Government agencies’ compliance with the law is a brave move by the Ombudsman to fix the unlawful practice of not releasing legitimate information.
“The Government has politicised the Official Information Act and there is evidence they abuse it to stop the release of information embarrassing to them. A league table will put pressure on Government agencies to apply the Act properly.
“John Key himself has said he withholds information for political purposes. That is illegal under the Act, and it will be interesting to see where the Prime Minister’s own department ends up on the league table.
“It is essential in a well-functioning democracy for any New Zealander to be able to freely access Government information. It’s great to see the new Ombudsman is committed to ensuring that happens.”