Media release: Open Government – Sham consultation on yet another weak plan

The New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties today condemned the government for yet another in a series of weak National Action Plans produced as a member of the international Open Government Partnership (the OGP). Keep reading “Media release: Open Government – Sham consultation on yet another weak plan”

Submission: Independent Electoral Review

While great play is made of our Parliament being supreme in Aotearoa’s mostly un-entrenched constitutional arrangements, we believe it is weak, has too few members, is significantly under-resourced, does not function well, lacks independence, and is therefore dominated by the executive. We need to invest more in our Parliament to improve the quality and independence of its work, and thereby our democracy. Keep reading “Submission: Independent Electoral Review”

Submission: Review of Standing Orders 2023

Submitters have a common objective with Members – that the outcome of the scrutiny process should be thehighest quality legislation possible, even if this may sometimes mean  recommending that the bill be withdrawn for redrafting or consultation. Our  submission makes recommendations to improve the quality of select  committee and parliamentary processes so as to try and avoid that second situation. Keep reading “Submission: Review of Standing Orders 2023”
Photo of a silhouette of a man against a large screen showing computer data

Briefing on the Data and Statistics Bill

The New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties is opposed to the Data and Statistics Bill and wants it withdrawn. Once in a generation law reform, on a topic that needs all-party support to have credibility, should be developed collaboratively to ensure public confidence. Read our briefing to MPs ahead of the final stages of the Bill's passage through Parliament. Keep reading “Briefing on the Data and Statistics Bill”

The Ombudsman’s reply

Yesterday, the Council wrote to the Ombudsman, Peter Boshier, to complain about the decision made in his name to close our complaint against the former Minister for Covid-19 Response. The Ombudsman has replied to the Council, apologising for the management of our complaint, re-opening the matter, and undertaking to conduct an investigation. The text of the Ombudsman’s reply is below. Keep reading “The Ombudsman’s reply”

Media release: Disappointment at Select Committee’s refusal to fix the Data and Statistics Bill

The deeply flawed Data and Statistics Bill has passed through the Governance and Administration Select Committee largely unchanged.  The Committee has fallen in line with the advice of Stats NZ and ignored the significant concerns raised by, amongst others, the Ombudsman, a former Government Statistician, and the NZ Council for Civil Liberties. Keep reading “Media release: Disappointment at Select Committee’s refusal to fix the Data and Statistics Bill”

Media release: Privacy Commissioner joins Ombudsman and former Government Statistician in criticising the Data and Statistics Bill

The NZ Council for Civil Liberties is pleased that the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) has reacted to public pressure and made a late submission highlighting problems with the Data and Statistics Bill. In doing so, the Privacy Commissioner joins the Ombudsman, and the former Government Statistician Len Cook, in highlighting serious flaws in the Bill. NZCCL and Mr Cook have both called for the entire Bill to be withdrawn, and the Ombudsman has called for part 5 of the Bill to be scrapped. Keep reading “Media release: Privacy Commissioner joins Ombudsman and former Government Statistician in criticising the Data and Statistics Bill”