Friday, December 04, 2015

Nothing to see here?

Another problem for (departing) Chief Ombudsman Beverley Wakem's "nothing to see here, move along" narrative about the politicisation of the OIA: Government departments reportedly tried to stop public servants from contributing to the review:
The Public Service Association has accused some government agencies of obstructing the Ombudsman's Office investigation into the Official Information Act.

It said the lack of support for the inquiry was another example of political pressure on the public service.

PSA national secretary Erin Polaczuk said the Ombudsman's Office asked it to distribute its questionnaire to its members but the union encountered some difficulties.

"We had some push back from agencies suggesting that our members and that those workplaces shouldn't be filling out that survey and giving information to the Office of the Ombudsman."


In other words, agencies felt they had something to hide, and took active steps to cover it up. And sadly, it seems to have worked. Nothing to see here? Yeah, right.