Power of Auckland mayor's office curbed after lashing by ombudsman

Thursday, 26 July 2018

Chief Ombudsman Judge Peter Boshier called Auckland Council's action 'contrary to the law'.

Auckland mayor Phil Goff's office has been stripped of its ability to influence the release of information following an investigation by the Chief Ombudsman.

Ombudsman Peter Boshier found the council had acted unreasonably, and in some respects unlawfully, in withholding for five months a report sought by RNZ.

Some changes at the office of Mayor Phil Goff have already been made.

The report, commissioned by Mayor Phil Goff, had examined the merits of the imported vehicle trade continuing through the city's port.

Goff had publicly opposed the trade continuing to occupy waterfront wharves, but the NZIER report found losing the business could cost the city's economy $1 billion.

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At the time this reporter, then working for RNZ, had requested a copy of the paper, the future of Auckland's port and the vehicle trade had become an issue in the general election campaign.

The council's governance director said three changes had already been made as a result of the Ombudsman's investigation, one affecting the mayor's office where senior staff had been involved.

'They will still have an opportunity to comment on, and see decisions that are made, but they previously had the ability to take part in the process,' said Phil Wilson.

'There is nothing to suggest the mayor or his principal political advisor (Nirupa George) acted improperly in this case,' said Boshier in his 22-page finding.

'However, there was an undesirable lack of clarity concerning their role in the process.'

The investigation followed a complaint laid after council correspondence suggested the report's delay may have had political grounds.

'I have concerns that it might (not) be useful if this or the final document is in the public domain during an election campaign,' wrote the CEO of the council agency ACIL John Crawford in one email last September.

'Assuming we will have to release it at some stage, it might be better to plan for a managed release,' one executive had written to two mayoral staff and other managers.

Requests for information from local bodies are covered by the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, (LGOIMA) which sets timelines for responses, and requires material to be released except on specified grounds.

Boshier said the deficiencies found in his investigation were 'worrying'.

Wilson said in addition to limiting the role of the mayor or his staff in future, the hand of the council's specialist LGOIMA team would be strengthened and it would hold the information being considered for release, which hadn't happened in the NZIER report case.

Where the team and relevant managers disagreed on whether to release information, that decision would be elevated to the council's chief executive, or to the governance director.

The council has formally apologised to RNZ in a letter to its chief executive Paul Thompson, as requested by the chief ombudsman.

'On behalf of Auckland Council please accept our apologies for the way we handled your request,' the council said in the letter.

'We acknowledge that we did not meet our responsibilities under the Act nor our commitment to being open and transparent.'

The ombudsman in May upheld a further complaint from this reporter, lodged while at RNZ, finding the six-month withholding of a report on the feasibility of a downtown stadium had been wrong.

Boshier said he would be watching the changes made by the council to its official information processes.

Wilson said some were in place already, and others such as improved education of staff and management on their responsibilities, were also planned.