Labour's bill on port company transparency has been drawn from the ballot. The question now is "will the government support it"?
This isn't just an abstract issue. These are public companies, managing our money. In every other case, we recognise that this means that we have the right to see what they are doing, even when they are a business, to ensure accountability for public funds. But not in the case of port companies. And there seems to be no good reason for it. even agency submitters to the Law Commission's review of the OIA - who were not exactly supportive of transparency - recognised that.
This is an anomaly that needs to be fixed. National needs to decide whether they stand on the side of transparency, or of secrecy, unaccountability, and ultimately poor management of publicly-owned entities.
