Editorial: Public has a right to know what councillors discuss

Andrew Austin, editor of Hawke's Bay Today.

I had a good meeting with Ombudsman Leo Donnelly recently about his investigation into whether our local regional councillors should make public emails requested under the Official Information Act.

At issue is an OIA request by former CHB mayor Peter Butler to regional councillor Tom Belford. Mr Butler asked him for all correspondence he had with third parties, including Hawke's Bay Today, about the Ruataniwha dam between August 8 and 25 last year. Mr Belford refused, so Mr Butler complained to the Ombudsman.

Our reporter, Victoria White, also made an OIA request for correspondence between six anti-dam councillors. The council's then acting chief executive, Greg Woodham, no doubt on the instructions of council chair Rex Graham, declined our request. We also complained to the Ombudsman.

Mr Donnelly asked me how I felt about my emails with Mr Belford being made public and also my views on the whole issue.

I told him I had no problem as no journalistic standards would be breached, given the nature of the correspondence.

The Ombudsman has subsequently informed me that he has decided the emails don't need to be made public as they were written in Mr Belford's capacity as a candidate seeking re-election. This does not stop me from releasing them, which I may do. He has yet to rule on our complaint.

I also told him that I believe the public has the right to know what councillors are discussing.

I do not agree with Mr Graham and Mr Belford's stance. By law they are obliged to release their emails. They say they won't because they want people to have confidence to come to them confidentially. It is a slippery slope.

The public has the right to know what our elected officials are saying to each other.