Mike Hosking: Open and honest government? What a joke

OPINION:

Among the many claims made by this Government, surely the one that stands out now as the most dishonest is that they would be the most open honest and transparent government this country has seen.

It stands out so much it's now often used as a joke.

When National MP Mark Mitchell first raised his issues with Police Minister Poto Williams and her denying access to police district commanders, I raised the issue with Megan Woods on my programme. Her very helpful advice was to ring the minister, which Mitchell did but they didn't answer and never got back to him. We rang on his behalf at which point they told us he wasn't getting access. After that Woods suggested it didn't matter because that's what select committees are for.

Got an issue? Get these people in front of the committee.

Well turns out this has been tried, and tried and tried, and what do you know, the Labour Party has blocked the opposition from doing that very thing not just once in Mitchell's case, but a number of times, indeed on 19 separate occasions involving any number of committees and any number of subjects.

Questions for officials around Covid - blocked.

Questions for Kāinga Ora around its devious videos and plain dishonesty around Arena Williams and her appearance in them - blocked.

Questions over Transmission Gully and its endless delays - blocked.

Questions over the costings and delays of Auckland light rail - blocked.

The list is extensive, but the results are the same.

Even poor old Chlöe Swarbrick, who teamed up with National (which alone surely is a small piece of political history), was denied access to officials over her desire to question them around their house price forecasting. And I thought she was a friend of the Government.

It seems when it comes to accountability, or indeed transparency or honesty, if it involves anyone asking what might be deemed remotely embarrassing questions, then this Government uses its majority on the committees to block any sort of scrutiny at all.

So 19 times and counting.

In a way they could get away with it, to the extent it's not one of those issues many of us are going to get worked up about.

In the midst of a cost of living crisis, another thing I am sure plenty of people would like to ask questions about at committees, how many people are more worried about their mortgage or the price of cheese, than they are select committee work?

And that in a way is what Labour is relying on, the upfront economic issues they can't hide from they have to address and that is why along with their Covid handling they currently sit behind the opposition in the polls.

I note, by the way, between the TVNZ poll and last month's Taxpayers' Union poll, National are ahead in both, thus giving us a good enough sense that a potentially permanent shift has been made and the writing is on the wall for the Government.

But it's the Machiavellian stuff we need to be worried about, it's the political sleight of hand, the old "there is nothing to see here".

Revenue Minister David Parker. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Three Waters is a classic example, self-governance is another, David Parker and his group ferreting through rich folks' doings, having set it up with zero consultation and now introducing law around "principles", it is all work that they would rather you didn't know about, far less ask about.

That of course is the role of the opposition. But how can the opposition do its job effectively if every time they want to fire off a few questions at officials, hell even if they want to meet an official as Mark Mitchell does, all access is denied?

Yes, there is the Parliament, but that is limited in both time and scope.

This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so profoundly dishonest.

If Labour had said at the start, look we aren't really into openness and accountability is more trouble than it's worth, and besides there's a whole bunch of really ideological stuff around race that we're desperate to get sorted before we're booted out, then at least we could've expected what we've ended up with.

But to have made such a song and dance about how angelic their intentions were, and how you could pop around for a cup of tea and a natter anytime you liked, because, after all we are all in this together, just shows you how much they played us for a bunch of suckers.

The great test for the Prime Minister's acting skills as we lead into the election is the challenge she will face when asked if she still thinks they are the most honest open and transparent the country has ever seen, and whether she 1) says yes, and 2) says it with a straight face.