REVEALED: Governor-General Hides Behind Legislated Secrecy

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling for the Governor-General and Government House to be brought under the Official Information Act. Currently, the office is excluded from both section 2 of the OIA and Schedule 1 of the Ombudsmen Act 1975.

This follows an Official Information Act request where officials confirmed that information held by Government House, including the costs and purpose of domestic travel, is not subject to the Act.

Taxpayers' Union Investigations Coordinator, Rhys Hurley said:

“In Canada you can request information from the Governor-General. In Australia you can request information from the Governor-General. Even in the United Kingdom, the Royal Household has a policy of providing information as freely as possible.”

“In New Zealand, however, the Governor-General sits behind a carve-out in our legislation. Every Minister appointed to Government can be held to account under the Act - so why not the person appointing them?”

“Minister Paul Goldsmith is currently reviewing the Act with a focus on cost, but the real issue is transparency. You cannot put a price on democracy.”

“This review is the perfect opportunity to fix the real issue in our information laws. Bring the Governor-General under the Act, bring Parliament under the Act, and stop taxpayer-funded bodies hiding from the people who fund them.”