REVEALED: The Report So Secret, You Can't Even Know Its Name

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal in response to an Official Information Act request that KiwiRail and the Minister of Rail have refused to so much as share the name of a Kiwirail briefing about underperforming rail lines.

Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator, Rhys Hurley, said:

“Transparency is dying, with more and more obstruction and avoidance of true public scrutiny. If the public can’t even know what a document is called, we have a broken freedom of information regime.”

“When the public funds the rail network, they deserve to know what they’re getting for their money. Some redactions might rarely be needed, sure, but that doesn’t justify agencies cold-shouldering taxpayers just to make their own lives easier.”

"The refusal is part of a broader pattern of government agencies increasingly hiding behind vague legal exemptions, while offering no meaningful public interest justification."

“This proves what we’ve been saying for years: the Official Information Act has become a shield, not a window. We need reform and the Ombudsman to put agencies' feet to the fire, to ensure that public scrutiny isn’t treated as optional.”