Hipkins enthuses about the Fourth National Action Plan – but who remembers the first three?

Buzz from the Beehive

Just two statements had been posted on the Beehive website, when we made our daily check this morning.  This suggested the PM and her ministers were easing up on their workloads as Christmas Day nears. 

But two more statements have been posted since then, one of them grandly headlined:

Open Government Fourth National Action Plan released

New Zealand’s Fourth National Action Plan under the Open Government Partnership was made public today.

This served to remind us of something we had forgotten, if ever we had taken much notice in the first place:  there must have been First, Second and Third National Action Plans under the Open Government Partnership. 

Whatever happened to them? 

We were cheered to learn Chris Hipkins  proclaim: 

Transparency under Ardern – party submissions on donations are kept secret and Taxpayers’ Union is banned from LGNZ conference

Yet again we are being reminded that from the moment she took office in 2017, Jacinda Ardern made a promise she would not keep – she promised her government would be the most open and transparent New Zealand has seen.

In her first formal speech to Parliament she pledged:

“This government will foster a more open and democratic society. It will strengthen transparency around official information.”

A visit to Kiwiblog today draws attention to the latest breach of Ardern’s commitment.

Political parties’ submissions on donation law reform are being kept secret.

The very next Kiwiblog post takes us from bad to worse.  It tells of Local Government New Zealand’s annual conference being closed to an organisation which represents taxpayers because LGNZ poobahs disapprove of their opinions.

We imagine no such ban applies to the mainstream media, now that they have become reliant on state subsidies and have committed themselves to promote the Ardern Government’s highly contentious interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi.

How the Govt’s IT girl and her email secrets left Chris Hipkins floundering

The  government  is  sinking deeper  into the hole  left behind by Clare Curran   over the  appointment of a  Chief Technology  Officer.

Questioned  in Parliament,   State Services  Minister  Chris Hipkins sounded far from confident  when he  stuttered  about issues of  “natural  justice”.

He  was  floundering  not   just because of the  secret  emails  Curran  had  sent  Derek Handley,  whom she  favoured  – it seems – as  the CTO,  but because it turns  out  Handley  is a friend of   PM  Jacinda  Ardern.

Not  surprisingly,  National  thinks  the whole  process   has been  “tainted”.

Clare’s secret meetings: second blunder leaves Nick Smith “gobsmacked”

The   current Parliamentary  session  has  yielded few events, or  speeches, which linger  in the memory  for  more than  a few  minutes. The  Opposition, despite its  strength  in numbers at  least,  has landed   few hits  on  the   government.

That  is  until  this  week   when  it  called for, and  was granted,  a  snap  debate  on  the demotion  of Clare  Curran  from   Cabinet and her resignation  from two portfolios.

Perhaps surprisingly, one of the  most effective speeches  from the Opposition  benches  came from  veteran MP  Nick Smith.  Some  of the newcomers within  the Opposition  could  take  it  as  a  model of   its kind,  marshalling  the facts  before the  house  and  then   building  to  a  powerful  climax.

Here’s  how   Smith  made his  case: