Questions the government will not answer

notices and features
14 years ago
Categories: accountability, Ethics, law, national/act government
Tags: cabinet manual, conflict of interest

Over at No Right Turn, I/S I filed an OIA request for specific information on the handling of Cabinet conflicts of interest in accordance with Cabinet Manual rules. The request has been declined. In the following post (reprinted) I/S sets out the Questions the government will not answer:

On how many occasions in the last year has the Cabinet Secretary been informed, as required by s2.69 of the Cabinet Manual, of a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest around a Cabinet decision? In each case, I would like the name of the Minister, the issue the conflict related to, the reason for the conflict, and the letter, email, aide memoire or other documentation informing the Cabinet secretary.
On how many occasions in the last year has the Prime Minister been advised in writing, as required by s2.69 of the Cabinet Manual, of a serious conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest of particular concern or that requires ongoing management? In each case, I would like the name of the Minister, the issue the conflict related to, the reason for the conflict, and the written advice in question.
On how many occasions has a Minister declared a conflict of interest under s2.70a of the Cabinet Manual? In each case, I would like the name of the Minister, the issue the conflict related to, the reason for the conflict, and the subsequent action taken.
On how many occasions has a Minister not received papers on an issue in order to avoid a conflict of interest, as required by s2.70b of the Cabinet Manual? In each case, I would like the name of the Minister, the issue the conflict related to, the reason for the conflict, and the subsequent action taken.
On how many occasions has a Minister transferred a decision to another Minister in order to avoid a conflict of interest, as required by s2.70c of the Cabinet Manual? In each case, I would like the name of the Minister, the issue the conflict related to, the reason for the conflict, and the subsequent action taken.
On how many occasions has a Minister transferred a decision to a department in order to avoid a conflict of interest, as required by s2.70d of the Cabinet Manual? In each case, I would like the name of the Minister, the issue the conflict related to, the reason for the conflict, and the subsequent action taken.

Or, in short, is Cabinet obeying its own rules? We can’t trust them unless we know, and we can’t know unless they tell us. It is that simple.

Last month, the government was willing to spend $50,000 to build public trust by releasing Ministerial expense records, so we could see whether they were behaving corruptly in small ways. They owe us at least that much effort so we can see if they’re behaving corruptly on the big stuff too.