Monday, May 08, 2023



Total contempt for the OIA

That's the only way to describe the attitude of Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson, who is the focus of an adverse finding from the Ombudsman:

The Chief Ombudsman has called out Minister for Māori Development Willie Jackson over a "trend of human error" in his office causing delays with responding to the Official Information Act (OIA).

The Ombudsman said Jackson's office has consistently failed to respond to correspondence from the Ombudsman's office and a lack of compliance with statutory requirements was "unacceptable".

Basicly, Jackson didn't give a shit about requests, didn't give ashit about responding to the Ombudsman, and didn't give a shit about following the Ombudsman's recommendations following a complaint. He was so shit that the Ombudsman considered asking the Solicitor-General to take him to court to enforce the public duty on the Minister to follow recommendations, but he managed to wriggle out of it. The Ombudsman should have gone further. Obstructing their investigation and failing to respond to their queries is actually a criminal offence (though the penalty is derisory). The Ombudsman should have insisted on prosecution, pour encourage les autres.