The privatisation bill is back before the House today for its committee stage, and the opposition are planning to filibuster with hundreds of amendments. But not all of those amendments are delaying tactics. The Greens have promoted an amendment to preserve the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman and OIA over part-privatised companies. Its a sensible move, supported by the Ombudsman and her predecessor, and it preserves the basic principle enshrined in the OIA and LGOIMA: if we own it, we have a right to see what it is doing.
So what does Parliament's self-appointed Captain Sensible, Peter Dunne, think of this move? He opposes it, of course. Why?
"I'm not interested in supporting anything the Greens are putting forward on this."So much for "common sense".
Dunne has always promoted himself as a sensible, reasonable centrist, who assess policy on its merits. Clearly, that's not true. Opposing this amendment is neither sensible nor reasonable. But it speaks volumes about Dunne that he would sacrifice our core democratic principle of open government simply out of partisan animus.