This cannot stand

Having previously been found to have misled Ministers and the public over its revenge raid in Afghanistan, NZDF has now been accused of misleading the Ombudsman:

The chief ombudsman has opened an investigation into whether the Defence Force deliberately misled him during an inquiry into civilian deaths in Afghanistan.

The investigation follows a complaint by journalist Nicky Hager.

Hager alleges NZDF withheld crucial information from the Ombudsman, whose Operation Burnham investigation into New Zealand-backed strikes found the military suppressed information to Ministers and the public.

The Ombudsman is taking this extremely seriously, as he should. If agencies can simply lie to the Ombudsman, then the office is about as credible as the IPCA. OTOH, even if he finds that they have, the maximum penalty is only a $200 fine. Which suggests that maybe we need to set some real incentives for agencies to obey the law?