Open government; not just yet

Dunedin South MP Clare Curran has been a great advocate for open government, lobbying during her years in Parliament for more transparency in the dealings of Government.

But here we are. Labour is in Government, facing hundreds of unanswered questions about with whom ministers are meeting.

Also, the Briefings to Incoming Ministers (BIMs), while not exactly late in being released, are still being held back by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

There seems no likelihood of the documents signed in forming the Government being released. This is not the democracy one expects and Ms Curran, as Associate Minister of State Services (Open Government), may be horrified by witnessing this at first hand. At least, she should be.

National has been accused by Labour of spamming Parliament. Its MPs have lodged more than 6000 written questions to ministers in the past month. Opposition MPs can lodge written questions to ministers and the answers are then published online.

National has lodged thousands of questions since Labour came to power. Many ask what meetings a minister held on a specific date.

The actions by National may be regarded as excessive. Opposition MPs can gather much the same information from an Official Information Act (OIA) request covering the entire month, rather than one question per day.

Labour Leader of the House Chris Hipkins says the tactic is the parliamentary equivalent of spam mail, and will not lead to a great deal of useful information being provided.

He maintains all New Zealanders want the Government to be effective and they do not want a government bogged down with trivialities and time-wasting.

Mr Hipkins says while Labour pushed the boundaries when it was in Opposition, National's behaviour is unprecedented.

Not at all, it seems. Labour reportedly asked more questions in a month - in July 2010 when 8791 were asked.

More than 7000 of those questions came from Labour MP, the new Speaker Trevor Mallard.

National MPs say the volume of questions is purely being driven by ministers and their offices refusing to answer more generalised questions, such as something along the lines of: ''Who has the minister met with since being sworn in?''

Ministers' offices have been responding along the lines of: ''The minister meets with many people on many topics. We can respond to more specific questions''.

National's Leader of the House, Simon Bridges, acknowledges the side effect of the approach will be to test the new Government and its staff. But he argues if his MPs were getting answers to what they feel are reasonable questions, they would not be asking so many.

This is very helpful to know and explains why National is asking such specific questions. Basically, Labour is refusing to reveal who ministers have been meeting, forcing National to ask specific questions every day.

Political commentator Bryce Edwards calls on everyone who believes in reforming the OIA processes to join together and campaign to make it actually happen. Such a coalition could guide the new Government in making the necessary changes so New Zealand is once again a world leader in open government, as in 1982 when the extraordinary Act was introduced.

Labour continues to backtrack on promises made during the election campaign. It has become imperative for ministers to tell voters how they are working within their portfolios.

National, in Government, was often guilty of using delaying tactics to avoid answering OIA requests. Requests inevitably were extended, requiring appeals to the Office of the Ombudsman.

National is to be applauded in seeking transparency but it needs to carry forward its commitment for openness. Meanwhile, Ms Curran should be doing her best to have the Government start abiding by the rules.