Official Information Act warning

WELLINGTON: The Ombudsman is warning government departments not to use the Official Information Act as a way of dragging their feet in response to media inquiries.

The National Party said there was an increasing tendency for government agencies to treat straightforward media queries as OIA requests, which then gave them 20 working days to respond.

The coalition government promised to be open and transparent — but is it any better than the previous administration?

Canvassing the RNZ newsroom, the answer was a resounding ‘‘no’’, with reporters saying they noticed an increase in the practice of invoking the 20day OIA deadline.

State Services Minister Chris Hipkins has responsibilities for open and transparent government, and said the public service was ‘‘too readily’’ using the timeframes in the Official Information Act as the ‘‘optimum timeframes, not the maximum timeframes’’.

His expectation, he said, was that information be passed over as soon as possible.

Ombudsman Peter Boshier agreed.

‘‘For things to be delayed is not acceptable, public debate now is very current on issues and we need to enhance that and support it.’’

The speed of digital news meant demand for information was quite different from 10 or 15 years ago, he said.

‘‘And I think government departments have to accept that this is the requirement of the modern era.’’

National’s state services spokesman Nick Smith questioned how open and transparent the coalition government actually was.

‘‘I’ve been quite appalled by relatively simple inquiries, particularly in the areas of Kiwibuild, the Provincial Growth Fund . . . that they are ducking and diving.’’ — RNZ