Posts by Angela Hart
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Hard News: The Hager saga continues, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
me too, there's no sense of what is really important.
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Speaker: David Fisher: The OIA arms race, in reply to Steve Barnes,
Yup, I think the change to "no surprises" stems from Corngate when Clark was horribly embarrassed because she was ambushed by Campbell and didn't have a clue what he was getting at. The interview was painful to watch and I wasn't able to forgive Campbell for his unfairness for a long time.
That doesn't excuse the situation we have now with the OIA, but it helps explain it. -
Speaker: David Fisher: The OIA arms race, in reply to giovanni tiso,
I made a series of OIA requests attempting to get at the information. I've copied the last two (which were to different Ministry people because my previous responses came from them) and the final response to dropbox, which you should be able to access via this link.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xqjdqsmq1lhclb7/AAAgE7UCzVSKV6XUF70EQCoSa?dl=0The format of these requests is different from the earlier ones because I realised they were not going to release the information. I can dropbox those too if you want.
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Thanks David, I'm an ordinary citizen, not in the media and this piece helped me to understand what has happened over time and why my own experience with the OIA was what it was.
I don't trust them any more either. I was straight in my OIA requests, clear as to what I wanted but I got responses such as "no document can be found" and ultimately a claim that Needs Assessment and Service Co-ordination Agencies (NASCs) which are contracted to the Ministry of Health to gatekeep resources are not subject to the OIA.
http://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/disability-services/about-disability-support-services/needs-assessment-and-service-coordination-serviceThat claim is now the subject of an Ombudsman investigation, but the tactics were successful in preventing the release of information prior to the election. If I eventually obtain the information, the programme it relates to may have changed as it is currently under review.
The effect is to turn me off. Why should I bother trying to be involved in the way my country looks after its people when it is so difficult?
Government behaviour relating to the OIA is one aspect of several which are collectively eroding democracy in New Zealand. We wear a mask of democracy but the nebulous face beneath is something else.
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Labour needs to sort out its leadership and move rapidly into partnership with other parties to produce an effective opposition. If the opposition, and I don't mean just Labour, doesn't get its act together ASAP we are in for a long period of National government.
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Hard News: The Hager saga continues, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
Slow and reluctant. Once upon a time everyone knew most politicians lied about election promises but there remained an expectation, a trust that the system of government was itself reasonably honest. Now there is less lying about policy at election time- successful parties simply spring unpopular policy on us once in power, sometimes blaming convenient allies, but they avoid the burden of unwonted policy at election time, and they are better at implementing promised change. However, this political change is now paired with practices which make a mockery of democracy in the daily activity of government: the abuse of the OIA, underfunding of the Ombudsman and HDC, the selectivity of release of research information and report material, the failure to accept responsibility when incorrect or inappropriate action is exposed, the expectation that parliamentary decisions will be routinely made under urgency, and with limited information available to ordinary MPs, the pressure public servants are under if they wish to retain their chosen livelihoods, the removal of people's rights to local representation through Councils and other local bodies, and ownership of the MSM.
Hollow men has become hollow country, the face the UN sees is a mask which those who live here are becoming ever more uncomfortably aware of. The behemoth beneath grows stronger and it believes it knows best. -
Hard News: The Hager saga continues, in reply to mark taslov,
Bet he's still unavailable to media.
There's so much spinning going on I'm starting to routinely assume the opposite of what is said in certain circles. -
Access: Disability: Election Promises…, in reply to Rosemary McDonald,
both Flavell and Turia are under the mistaken impression that they voted AGAINST the PHDAct ammendment.
They are. I wonder if the votes they registered match those recorded in their names. I had put the Maori party's assent to the bill down to the way it was bundled with the budget, to which the Maori party was required to assent as part of its agreement with National. I think the bundling was scurrilous, an abuse of the partner agreement, done only to get it through. The matter becomes worse if the MPs did vote against the Act but their votes were changed without their knowledge.
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Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to Sacha,
worth every cent some right-leaning donor paid for keeping the topic out of the media so effectively.
Except for its dishonest, nasty, underhand nature, you can't fault the strategy, on all fronts it has worked well, the only problem being that the public will become more conscious of it as the fallout from the book penetrates. People will care, but the strategy will aim to minimise the backlash and permit continuation of these tactics.
Vanishing Jason was masterful, but he must remain silent awhile longer.
Its ironic that my biggest hope lies with honourable Nats, who should now be attempting to ensure that their party's activities are and are seen to be fair, clean, open and honest.
This election was not fought on policy. It was fought on trust, (and untrue sound bites) Key can't afford to lose that trust., it's all he actually has. -
It may be a temporary glitch but the link from the post to access the Fabian Society doesn't work and their web page is also unreachable at the moment (3pm 29th September).