National must come clean over Official Information Act

The National Party needs to come clean on what it intends to do with the Official Information Act. It is simply not good enough for Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith to kick the can past the election.

Last year Goldsmith instructed the Ministry of Justice to prepare a briefing paper on the operation and cost of the OIA. Stuff revealed on Friday that the results had been quietly placed on the ministry website a fortnight ago under the heading Regulatory Stewardship, with no accompanying announcement.

The documents indicate that Goldsmith started the ball rolling last year on possible changes to the OIA by seeking information on the costs of OIA requests across the public sector. Consultants produced a report in November giving indicative costs, which they estimated to be $183.6 million last year. In March the Secretary for Justice, Andrew Kibblewhite, and State Services Commissioner, Sir Brian Roche, wrote to government agencies signalling more detailed requests for information and the consultants, Tregaskis Brown, were commissioned to do more detailed work. They broadly confirmed the original costings in a final report dated 14 July 2026, but repeated a number of caveats (such as the way OIA request numbers were calculated) that could push the real costs significantly higher. Initial assumptions about better ways of proactively releasing state sector information were also confirmed.

Information on OIA patterns and costs, plus advice from the ministry, have been made available to the Beehive progressively throughout the year but last week Goldsmith simply said: “No decisions have been made. We will consider this advice, including the estimated costs, in the next parliamentary term”.

The Official Information Act is the foundation stone of open government in this country. It is the only guarantee we have of transparency over what is being done in our name and on our behalf. Therefore, we have a right to know what is on the minister’s mind. After all, he was thinking about it a year ago. Continue reading “National must come clean over Official Information Act” →

Where are much-needed party policies on media?

Two months out from the election, and we have yet to see new policy from any of the seven main political parties on media and communication.

Only the Greens have a media policy on their website – and it is effectively a repeat of the 2023 policy that was heavy on high-minded rhetoric but very light on functional detail. No party has yet presented voters with practical initiatives that take account of the significant shifts in the media industry since the last election.

Admittedly, this is not the sort of policy that will sway voters, but manifestos are more than vote-grabbers. They represent commitments by each party to use their best endeavours during the coming Parliamentary term to give effect to what they say they will do in the interests of the public good.

Unless there is a sudden avalanche of media policy promises, the signal the parties are sending is that, in this area of public policy, they plan to do very little.

I do not believe our politicians are unaware of the precarious state of journalism in this country. They have been lobbied by every media organisation and left in no doubt that the cuts that have kept newsrooms in operation are not sustainable in even the medium term.

The have been warned we will see the loss of significant news publications and news broadcasts within the term of the next government unless there is a reset. The playing field needs to be levelled to overcome the pernicious effects of uncontrolled foreign digital players in our media market. Continue reading “Where are much-needed party policies on media?” →

Bromhead draws a line under his life

Peter Bromhead, the cartoonist who has died at the age of 93, would have appreciated the irony in the fact that his only newspaper obituary of any substance was written for the title he spent years competing against…and they put it behind their paywall.

Shayne Currie wrote a commendable tribute to Bromhead for the New Zealand Herald last week but it appeared only online. The one place I have seen it in print is the Daily Post in Rotorua, where he died. It republished Currie’s story yesterday. Apart from an eight-line brief in the Otago Daily Times and some online tributes, I could find no other reference to his death. By coincidence, the Sunday Star Times published an interview with him only days before he died.

It is sad, however, that the closing chapter was not more widely acknowledged. Although Bromhead’s personality caused issues in the course of his life, his body of work was such that it deserved widespread recognition in its own right.

The minimalist style he developed after joining the Auckland Star in 1972 became instantly recognisable. Those who saw his cartoons as hasty scribbles were mistaken. The style belied both keen observation and thoughtful rendition. The economy of line with which he captured the character of Robert Muldoon, for example, was masterful. It is, perhaps, to Bromhead’s enduring credit that Muldoon reputedly hated the caricature. Continue reading “Bromhead draws a line under his life” →

Posting profits but what is the future bottom line?

We have become all too familiar with New Zealand media company interim and full year reports oozing red ink, so it was pleasant surprise to see three of them reporting profits last week.

The biggest earner by a large margin was Sky, which announced its net profit had risen two per cent to $41.8 million on revenue that was up a solid nine per cent to $826 million. Over the past three years its share dividend has more than doubled.

Sky’s biggest drawcard is its sports offering and it added icing to the profit announcement by disclosing that it has secured rights to English Premier League matches. It also has long-term contracts with rugby, cricket, league and the Olympics.

Then NZME waded in with a post-tax half-yearly profit of $6.6 million that reversed a $400,000 loss for the same period last year. Radio was its standout performer, with operating revenue growing eight per cent to $61.8 million, significantly ahead of its publishing revenue.

Finally, TVNZ reported a profit of $16.3 million and an end-of-year dividend of $2.2 million. In total the state-owned company contributed close to $4 million to the government coffers in 2026.

Less pleasant was the realisation of how TVNZ and NZME achieved their profits. Continue reading “Posting profits but what is the future bottom line?” →