Monday, May 16, 2016



Open Government: More muppetry

Back in March, the New Zealand government was officially sent a formal warning by the Open Government Partnership about our late submission of our midterm self-assessment report. But according to Louise Upston, the Minister it was addressed to, she never received it:

I am interested to see the communication you have referenced relating to New Zealand's mid-term self-assessment report. http://www.opengovpartnership.org/sites/default/files/OGP_NZ_Letter_SAR_03212016.pdf
I never received this, nor did I receive any communication from either the OGP Secretariat nor New Zealand OGP officials alerting me to it.

Which invites the obvious question of whether any Minister was given or briefed on this formal warning. We know that Bennett wasn't formally briefed on it in March - something you'd expect to happen for something this serious. Has she been told yet? Do any of them have any clue about how much of a disaster this is turning into?

Meanwhile, Upston also says that her office didn't retain any briefings or material relating to her attendance at the OGP summit. Which invites the question: did she receive any? Or was the entire thing just treated as an excuse for a junket?