Today Phil Goff showed the country real leadership on transparency. Because that’s what he, and our party, stands for.
I want to put on record my discomfort about the latest round of discussions and speculation about the transparency or lack of of MPs entitlements and the way that we claim for allowances.
Phil said:
I believe that MP expenses should be transparent and made public. I do not agree that some costs should be withheld. We all need to be accountable for the expenses we incur as we do our jobs as MPs.
and he went on to say:
I’m calling on all other party leaders to show the same commitment to transparency and to release the details of their MPs’ expenses and for the Speaker to return to the former – and more transparent – form of release,” Phil Goff said.
For me transparency and rebuilding public trust in politicians and how we spend public money, whether it’s on government projects or on ourselves is more important than accounting.
OpenLabour NZ has been about trying to address some of perception issues that have arisen and trying to rebuild some of that trust between people and politicians.
Phil gets that. And he’s clear about our position.
Thnakyou for doing this. I was critical of Goff for staying silent over the weekend, but he has done the right thing in the end.
Great. I hope he says it loud and clear and often and in short soundbites. And apart from transparency there’s accountability,which the current ‘Administration’ wants to wash it’s hands of through legislation!
Kudos to Goff for this move. Thumbs up from me.
Good on Labour and good on Phil Goff.
This country desperately needs politicians who do not have a civil servant mindset, but who are instead real moral leaders.
Good on Labour! This is showing leadership.
If any party needs to rebuild trust……
Yep, I’m giving Labour a point for that one.
G
FF is that man! 
!
Cmon Clare, trust and transparency? Where were you from 1999 to 2008?
She wasn’t in parliament, just in case you’re trying to pin something on her!
This is good stuff.
I’m bored of tired-hack media thinking we care about this in the first place. You work 70 hour weeks, probably more, are publicly scrutinised for everything you say, everything is your fault, you have to fix everything, and have to listen to every single complaint from “my landlord won’t fix the drain” to “why don’t you stop it raining so much in Wellington”. But we also expect that to basically be for free, and you’re criticised by the very people who wouldn’t offer their candidacy for election in the first place.
I like this. Openness in government applies at every level and Kevin – stupid point, sorry but we could all go on for hours about who hid what. A new opportunity to be open and transparent, and Phil supports that idea – I like it.
Good call.
Excellent. We will expect the Labour members to disclose their travel annually.
No need for proscription in an open and transparent Government.
I want to know every micro movement they make, with a minute by minute breakdown, a bit like those home detention people
Microchip under the skin? Doesn’t seem to bother my dog?=)
I agree with No Right Turn – better late than never. Phil may have been the last Leader to state publicly his position, but by doing so it means that this information will now be made public by all parties.
I too am pleased that Labour have done a complete U-turn from the decade when they were the government to their position now.
I also look forward to the election when Labour are much more transparent about the support and assistance received from unions during the campaigns.
None of this will help you though. I did have a laugh this morning at Goff on this issue criticising John Key (”walk the talk”) it was after all John Key who originally opened up the expenses to scrutiny. Something Labour vigorously opposed during their whole tenure.
Now to have the Parliamentary Services, especially the complete spending including Leaders Office’s opened up to the OIA,that would be open Government.
Goff was one of the *first* leaders, ahead of Key and Hide who scrambled to catch up.
I think the Greens had a jump on Goff though? Did MP come forwards early?
Mighty – mark of the beast?
Monty, Goff has been all for transparency during his entire reign as opposition leader. I thought he was good, nice to see a quality guest on Breakfast this morning
Doug, oh groan, not another zzzzzzzzzz
Farrar’s comment is interesting. I still don’t know what Key’s position is. But let’s not the facts get in the way.
Key’s position? Best phone Warner Bros and find out
Took ya long enough, the Greens where calling for this from day 1 of Smiths release. Thanks for finally following the Greens lead on this.
The Greens, being left of center, are ok, and a natural partner under mmp, but the current leadership aren’t a patch on Donald and fitzsimmons.
.
I’m pretty sure the Labour press release containing all MP details came out a good 45 mins before the Green’s one.
Greens so slllooowww!
The growing pains of a democracy
Transparency is a hard one as only some even with labour will actually genuinely want this and some in the media will what everything to be 100% transparent to the point of offering no privacy at all!
I like to add by international standards NZ would have already one of the most transparent democracies in the world…
@monty
“I also look forward to the election when Labour are much more transparent about the support and assistance received from unions during the campaigns.”
I also look forward to the election when national is more transparent about the support and assistance received from big business (local and aboard) and religious sects during the campaigns!
Gipper I disagree with you.
There are some people who work excessive hours and they receive less than an MP. MPs are not underpaid. It’s a choice thing. If many of the MPs continued in their original occupation they may get alot more but it is a choice and a sought after job.
And the person making the ‘landlord won’t fix the drain’ statement may be living in substandard housing because that is all they can afford. Their family may be sick because of it and they may just need an empathic ear. The MP might be the only person they can tell about the drain. They want someone to listen.
I say good on Phil Goff. He’s shown leadership. It is about transparency. When you have former ex Labour ministers spending extravagant amounts on travel when the very nature of Labour voters is working class then it shows a disconnection with the people they represent. Gipper it’s not about the amounts, it’s about showing that you are connected to the traditional electorate.
I worked in the public service and was involved in budgeting and one of the things my boss impressed on me was to remember it was public money that was being spent. That for every dollar we had to spent, someone worked their butt off to get.
Again, good on Phil Goff and Labour for showing the leadership.
Your leader didn’t really show a lot of leadership Clare. He did what all the other party leaders promised.
As for accountability and transparency (and censorship for that matter), I am still censored for reasons that have never been made clear to me, despite promises from you some time ago that it would be reviewed.
As you know the effect of information delayed is that it is information suppressed.
G
FF 2 
11 !!!!!!!
Phil may have been the last Leader to state publicly his position
Hang on David, John Key is yet to state his position. According to this quote in the New Zealand herald.
National leader John Key said Cabinet had yesterday unanimously agreed to do the same, making it likely National would follow suit. However, he wanted to discuss it with his caucus first.
So John Key hasn’t committed to any position yet.
This is, of course, a good thing. About time.
And can we also have the details on what happens to all the airpoints we pay for. Please.
I was wondering why Goff was so quiet on this, he was doing the accounting..!
Great stuff, well done…
As long as parties refuse to name all their donors, to not take donations from Trusts which are hiding the real donor (that is name the beneficiairies of the Trust and be able to trace the trust back to its settlors and the money honey, until ALL parties say NO to anonymous donors etc etc NONE can claim transparency.
Monty read the article in the NYTimes posted by Col. Viper in the GST thread… It’s a great insight into how the money has allocated during the recession.
The unions have less and less political clout in this country with every passing decade, the same is not true of business. While you may not see this as a bad thing, please dont perpetuate the ridiculous myth that the unions funded by, on the whole, average wage earners has anywhere NEAR the money to spend on manipulating politics, the economy , and the hiding of their spending in politics as businesses do.
Those who believe NZ is under the toke of unions or workers need to open their eyes and re-educate themselves.
When business people say ” the environment is too tough on us” we shouldn’t just agree, we need to scrutinise, same with union claims.
Thanks, Goff and Labour MPs (and the Greens).
You have done the right thing.
Despite Dorkwood practising pirouettes with the rules and playing with words, you have brought about change.
As a swing voter (no party should take my vote for granted), come Elections 2011, I will remember today.
@ Tracey
In an open society and free democracy, why are donors so precious about their gifts to political parties being kept secret and need to hide behind secret trusts?
There’s still work to be done to repair the funding of election campaigns of political parties.
Now, who is up to reforming that and will speak up?
As a Labour voter, I couldn’t care less about the expenses ATM ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of you guys
Just bored 