Amidst the busy news week we have just had, full of the serious and the utterly silly, one story that did not get the attention it deserved was the testimony from the Chief Ombudsmen, Beverley Wakem at the Government Administration Select Committee.
The Office of the Ombudsmen is in “crisis”, says the Chief Ombudsman. Beverley Wakem says the public watchdog has a bulging backlog of cases because it lacks investigators, with underpaid staff leaving and in some cases literally being worked to death.
Saying this in such a public forum will not be something that the Chief Ombudsmen took lightly. Anyone who knows Beverley Wakem will know that it will not be grandstanding. This is a crisis- and it is one that really matters for all New Zealanders who care about the accountability of their government. Ms Wakem also told the Committee
The office, she said, was “sinking under the weight of the complaint burden. I’d say we are in crisis”. The public would suffer as a result from delays in handling complaints. “At the end of the day that isn’t acceptable. Justice delayed is justice denied and people are already distressed when they approach the office.”
And that is the nub of this. The Ombudsmen’s office plays a critical role in holding the government and its agencies to account. Its not just OIA requests, its also whistle-blowing on wrong-doing, conduct of insitutions that detain people such as prisons, refugee centres etc as well as our responsibilities under the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. They are essential to make our democracy function properly, whoever the government of the day is.
I have had numerous dealings with the Ombudsmen’s Office, and it is something that in the past you could simply not hide from. When I worked for Helen Clark we had a significant dispute over the release of material related to the so-called Corngate saga. The Ombudsmen’s Office was relentless in ensuring that the vast majority of the material was released. As an opposition politician I have taken a number of complaints to them. I have one that is still outstanding from May last year. We are anxious for them to take a look at the absurd deletions from the briefings to incoming Ministers this year. There are a number of cases relating to Christchurch pending as well.
This is not some backroom bureaucratic agency that can be shrunk in the name of public sector efficiency. The word Ombudsmen derives from a Norse word meaning representative. This is the agency that is the representative of the people charged with keeping government honest on all our behalf. It is an essential part of our democractic infrastructure, and the current government must finding funding to allow it to operate properly. At the moment they are starving it of funds, and that means they are not been hold to account to the degree they should be. If they do not move to resolve this crisis then they will lay themselves open to the accusation that this is a deliberate tactic to reduce their accountability.
At a time when the government is under scruitiny for its dodgy behaviour in being part of breaching electoral broadcasting law and for having the Prime Minister’s Electorate Chair on NZ on Air and involving himself in programming decisions this is a further black mark on their ability to play by the rules. This office must receive the support it needs- it is no exaggeration to say our democracy relies on it.
The answer to the first part is in the second part.
The problem here is that the strains of the Ombudsman Office are *because* we have too much democracy; rather than that democracy is suffering because of the strains of the Ombudsman Office.
What exactly is “too much” democracy? It’s certainly not any world I live in.
Clearly Grant Robertson is one of life’s dreamers.
It may be ok as an MP but try being one of the Hoi Polloi who try and get a valid “decsion” from this pack of clowns.
For a start, they haven’t heard of the Bill of Rights Act, which is a bit of a downer to say the least.
And what sort of drivel is it when the ombudsman declares that the name of a bar manager (which by law must be displayed in a prominent place) is, indeed, private. Or the name of an organisation is private under a clause applying only to natural persons on the grounds that “if you identify the organisation you identify its members. Try questionning this garbage and you are told that “You did not make your complaint in good faith”. It’s nuts!
Mr Robertson, I’ll send you their latest decision and then tell me that they do a valuable job.
No, these clowns are a disgrace as are their cousin-in-laws the Privacy Commission.
I’d suggest that Grant Robertson try living in the real world. Even better, I’ll send him some material and then let him post his thoughts on here!!
Frankly, if you got rid of this office, it’s hard to see how anyone (except MPs) would be worse off.
And if you want examples of dodgy behaviour look no further thean thye Office of the Ombudsmen and the Privacy Commission both of whom consider themselves bigger than the legislation they work under.
Holding agencies to account? Dream on!
Thanks for letting us know about this Grant. I was wondering what was taking the Office of the Ombudsman so long.
The problems Wakem outlines are clearly not because we have too much democracy… it’s because they are getting swamped by unprecedented amounts of complaints. This is undoubtedly because National is not adhering to the democratic system as it is written in law.
TV3 announced today that the Race Relations Conciliator is about to go. Terrible!
Cronyism is alive and well in NZ it has been here a long time and unless you are in the inner sanctum you have got no show.
John Key has been invited into the inner sanctum and is now their divine leader.
One has to have the ability to read between the lines.
“The Office of the Ombudsmen is in “crisis”, says the Chief Ombudsman. Beverley Wakem says the public watchdog has a bulging backlog of cases because it lacks investigators, with underpaid staff leaving and in some cases literally being worked to death.”
Agree entirely. They are incredibly backlogged and justice delayed is justice denied. I have a complaint relating to a piece of evidence held by the DBH and which is important to leaky home resolutions (for all parties) but it has been awaiting an Ombudsmen decision for over a year. In the meantime cases go ahead, without this information, because clients are required to pay $1200 to get access to it.
So much for Justice not only being done but being seen to be done. Makes me wonder about who Petrecivic was really sorry for on Monday, his victims or himself…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10787165
Thanks for letting us know about it. Why hasn’t this been given any media coverage yet?? It’s much more important to our country than the Republican primaries which were given a disproportionate amount of airtime IMHO.
It is an outrage that such an important office has been allowed to come to this.