Yes Minister we must see that diary

From January, all Government ministers will have to release details of their internal and external meetings.

Minister for State Services (Open Government) Chris Hipkins said Cabinet had agreed to the release of summary information from their ministerial diaries from January 2019 onwards, with the first publication in February 2019.

The aim was to build trust and confidence in government, and show its commitment to improving transparency, he said.

The new policy will apply to the information recorded in the diary of each minister and parliamentary under-secretary that relates to ministerial business, including meetings held outside New Zealand.

For each meeting in scope, the summary would list: date, time (start and finish), brief description, location, who the meeting was with, and the portfolio.

The monthly summary will be published on the Beehive website within 15 business days following the end of each month.

The move follows the Green Party, which announced in March that it would open up its diaries to the public and refuse to accept free meals or tickets in a bid to combat money in politics.

The diaries of the Green Party’s ministers are proactively released quarterly.

‘‘There is a public interest in the meetings held by ministers and proactively releasing the summary information promotes accountability,’’ Hipkins said.

It follows his announcement in September that the Government would be proactively releasing Cabinet papers.