The public have a right to public information.  The importance of being able to access information has been brought home to me pretty vividly over the past couple of months as I researched the background to Lake Horowhenua, one of the few major lakes in this country to remain in Maori ownership. The research was commissioned by Phil Taueki, a direct descendent of paramount chief Taueki who signed the Treaty of Waitangi for Muaupoko. Unfortunately Mr Taueki was arrested early in December and faces the prospect of Christmas in jail because the Crown refuses to take cognisance of documentation, which the Courts cannot suppress.

As you can imagine I am therefore a strong advocate of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA), and I am delighted the Draco Foundation (who operate Council Watch) took the time to prepare a detailed submission for the Law Commission’s review of this legislation, aptly titled: The Right to Know.

I’m heartened to read that the Commission has been greatly assisted by the published research of Nicola White and Steven Price, who happens to be my lawyer. He acted for me when I, as a Horowhenua District Councillor, was unable to obtain a legal opinion I wanted to view before voting to spend a significant amount from a multi-million dollar Fund established by statute.

The key principle of LGOIMA is one of availability - unless there is good reason for withholding it, all information is deemed to be available to the public.  In this, the Ombudsman is deemed to be the final arbiter, the place where people can go if they are not satisfied with the outcome of an official request to the local authority.  In my case, however the Ombudsman declined my request.

The Fund in question was originally established under the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal Act 1956, with a provision that the fund was to be used ‘exclusively for the improvement and maintenance of roads and other amenities within the boundary of the Foxton Beach Township’. When this legislation was amended in 1968, the wording became ‘provision of services and public amenities for the benefit of the inhabitants of Foxton Beach Township’.  A legal opinion Council had obtained in 1991 endorsed spending only within the boundary.

Proper use of tagged public funds.  When the Council began to consider spending $500,000 on a swimming pool in Foxton the Horowhenua District Council’s Chief Executive advised the Council that ‘clearly’ this was an appropriate use of the Fund. Furthermore he had a legal opinion to this effect.  But when I asked to see that legal opinion, I was denied access to the document. Mr Price (my lawyer) argued that the legal opinion that I sought fell squarely within council business, was a matter of intense interest to her constituents, was relevant to ongoing council decisions and concerned issues of policy and statutory interpretation. Also, S 42 of the Local Government Act 2002 did not endow the chief executive with exclusive ‘oversight of legal advice’ as the chief executive asserted.  “Naturally her suspicions are aroused by the fact that the Chief Executive refuses to show it to her.”

But his arguments were all to no avail. I have yet to view that legal opinion, and all I could do was record my vote against the use of the Fund for the swimming pool; the only vote against the motion. So although the LGOIMA is a powerful weapon to maintain transparency in local government, there are occasions when even elected members cannot rely on it to access documents necessary to fulfil their fiduciary duty to their ratepayers.

The public should always have a right to know, unless there are very good reasons not to.  This is the basis of open government and is a key principle of the Official Information Act 1982 and the LGOIMA... it goes to the heart of generating trust in our governmental systems.

Be safe these holidays!  I would sincerely like to wish all those who support the Council Watch web-site a very merry Christmas, and meanwhile I’ll continue with my efforts to get Phil Taueki out of jail for Christmas.