Sepuloni Carmel: Offices of Parliament — Address to Governor-GeneralText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSepuloni Carmel: Offices of Parliament — Address to Governor-General[Sitting date: 30 April 2015. Volume:704;Page:3084. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]CARMEL SEPULONI (Labour—Kelston):I just want to endorse everything that has been said by Megan Woods. I just acknowledge those working for the Offices of Parliament. I think across the House we all agree that they do a very hard job and that they are stretched. The office in particular that I want to talk about which we all know has been stretched really beyond capacity is the Office of the Ombudsmen.Just a few moments ago I recalled a friend of mine who works in the media and as we were having this discussion—I was listening to the other speakers—I was wondering whether or not he had finally had his Official Information Act request responded to. I just want to relay this person’s request for information. He made his Official Information Act request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in May 2012. The ministry asked for an extension and then another and then it stopped replying to that person’s emails. That person then complained to the Ombudsman in July 2012. Since then he has had a few letters of apology from the Ombudsman’s office with regard to the time it has taken. The last letter was in December last year. It said that he would have regular progress updates. It is nearly May and he has not heard anything. The last letter said: “We sincerely regret the delays you have experienced which have been a result of a high caseload and resourcing constraints.” Three years on and there is no response to an Official Information Act request. That should be of concern to all of us particularly as I know what the Official Information Act request was for and there are health and safety implications for citizens with regard to it. This is the problem. It is not just about seeking information and a response; there are repercussions for citizens when we do not get the information that we seek. This is a real issue.I want to note that there has been a slight increase in funding for the Office of the Ombudsmen but there was considerable dispute in the Officers of Parliament Committee over the level of funding that should be given. Every single one of us here in Opposition has experienced difficulties with getting the information that we require. The office is under pressure because there has been a huge increase in Official Information Act requests. I want to say that from our perspective much of that is due to the fact that we are not getting responses to our written questions that we are putting through to the Ministers or we are getting fobbed off by the Ministers when we put questions through. So when we do not get the information through a written question then we have no choice but to seek that information through Official Information Act requests. It is time-consuming and it is resource-consuming. But we as the Opposition have a responsibility to hold the Government to account as would National if it was in Opposition and we need to live up to the expectations of the public in doing that.Out of curiosity I went through media reports from the last year to look at the extent of this problem to see where there have been articles in the paper outlining the issues around getting official information under this National Government. I am going to read some of the headlines because it really paints a picture of the state that things are in at the moment. We have got: “EQC tries to conceal report on its failings.” and “Health ministry under spotlight in ombudsman’s OIA review.” We have got an editorial about how information is critical and we are not receiving it. We have got from December 2014: “Information Act overdue for overhaul.” We have got from the New Zealand Herald from December 2014: “OIA review must get stuck in.” We have got: “PR staff numbers up despite promises.” We have got: “Heads should roll if information is withheld.” I think that is a really interesting headline—“Heads should roll if information is withheld.” I want to say that that Government is responsible—no one else but that Government.We have got another headline here: “Abuse of OIA disgraceful.” We have got from The Daily Post: “Don’t you dare release anything.” which is what its experience has been with that Government. We have even got a headline from the Bay of Plenty Times that says: “Slater got papers denied to reporters.” It just goes on and on. There are so many more here. It paints a picture about the fact that despite the fact that we are a democratic nation we are not being given the information or the transparency or the access to information that we should be given in a democratic country. It is not just about us in terms of being in Opposition having access to that information; it is actually about members of the general public and any of the other agencies out there seeking information like our journalists all of whom are having difficulties with this.I do want to note because I do sit on the committee that there actually has been a discussion—it is alluded to in the report—about there needing to be an external review of the Office of the Ombudsmen and what is required there in terms of resourcing. That is something we should all support. I think that is something that will be supported across the House including by the National Government because the number of complaints that are coming through have got to the point where it is just completely unmanageable. When you have got a journalist who puts through an Official Information Act request in 2012 and is still waiting 3 years later in 2015 when there are possible health and safety implications for citizens in respect of the information that he is after then there are real concerns.Over the past few years we note that there have been more resources put into the Office of the Ombudsmen but the level of resourcing has not been adequate. That inquiry is going to be essential for finding out what level of resourcing is required and where we can do things better so that we do not have 3-year waiting periods for information from Official Information Act requests. I will leave it at that. Thank you.Motion agreed to and Address agreed to.