Whither Open Government in New Zealand?

Current State of Democracy

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2023 Democracy Index, released in February 2024, painted “a global picture of stagnation and regression, with authoritarian regimes becoming more entrenched and hybrid regimes struggling to democratise”. Less than 8% of the world’s population live in full democracies and 39.4% are under authoritarian rule. The remaining countries are hybrid regimes or flawed democracies, such as the USA. The index scores against 5 criteria: electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties. NZ scored 2^nd overall, but 8th for political culture and 4^th for functioning of government.

In 2024, the Australian government published a “constellation of challenges” to democracy:

• dissatisfaction with government and governing
• inequality, discrimination, and intolerance
• polarisation and division
• artificial intelligence, mis- & disinformation, social media & digital platforms
• foreign interference. 

Globally, election results during 2024 reinforce this malaise. The Lowy Institute believes that the Internet is now seen as an agent of democratic erosion.

Open Government Partnership (OGP)

The OGP has 75 member countries and 152 local government members. Established by Barack Obama and David Cameron in 2011 to bolster democracy, it seeks to advance open and participatory government suitable for the 21st century. Its 2023-2028 strategy notes that political engagement in the OGP has decreased at ministerial and heads-of-government levels compared with its earlier years. Its new focus is to mobilize a much broader spectrum of political support – to help build a pipeline of future champions and ensure that open government reforms are less vulnerable to being deprioritised when leaders change. 

Key OGP Policy Areas

OGP’s key policy areas cover anti-corruption and integrity, civic space, digital governance, environment and climate, extractive industries, fiscal openness, inclusion, justice, land and spatial planning, open parliaments, public service delivery and the right to information. OGP reports that whistleblowing, extractive industries, and open contracting commitments are among the most ambitious open government work areas and are most likely to generate strong results. However, few countries have whistleblowing and open contracting commitments, despite their effectiveness, which could suggest a lack of political will for this critical work. You will recall that it took the Panama Papers scandal for John Key’s government to update NZ’s anti-money laundering regulations. The OGP has also released policy briefs identifying measures against covert, foreign-sponsored influences.

Open Government Work in Five Countries

I have completed open government reviews in New Zealand (NZ), Australia, Greece, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Taiwan.

I have observed similarities and differences across all in terms of actions and challenges. Their common commitments are political donations, whistleblower protection, beneficial ownership transparency, and money-laundering. Across these countries, two leaders are notable: Australian Attorney General Mark Dreyfus and Taiwan’s former Digital Services Minister, Audrey Tang, who is recognised internationally as an open data/open source guru.

Common open government challenges

Each country has challenges with leadership and funding certainty, a culture of openness across central and local government, willingness to collaborate widely with civil society groups and to give feedback on their submissions. When designing OGP action plans, the key challenge for officials is committing to work on essential open government change when it is dependent on political cross-party agreement. While OGP audits recommend that the country consider other mechanisms should the necessary legislation or policy not be introduced or passed, the results sought cannot be achieved. New governments may also choose to close down work started by previous governments.

Looking at New Zealand

Work on NZ’s 4^th national action plan has slowed due to election change and resourcing challenges. Work establishing a multi-channel approach to government information and service delivery was never started and a beneficial ownership register is delayed awaiting Ministerial decisions. The December 2024 progress report reports that two of the eight commitments have been completed and sets out next steps for the remaining activities.

In 2024, there were signs of decreased open government in NZ:

• The Helen Clark Foundation reported a slow decline in NZ’s score on corruption measures since 2020
• Transparency International NZ found NZ’s corruption stock to be under-insured, a steady Corruption Perceptions Index decline, that NZ is resting on its laurels and that the government should fund a single anti-corruption agency
• An AUT survey saw rapidly declining trust in media in 2024
• The VUW Policy Quarterly, May 2024, had concerns about NZ’s decreased participatory capabilities and processes able to address complex and potentially divisive issues. 

By contrast, the OECD’s 2024 survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions found that 44% believed that the NZ political system allows people a say in what the government does, against an average of 30%.

New Zealand to continue OGP Membership

In late December 2024, Newsroom reported that the Coalition government has scrapped the Public Service Commission’s plan to leave the OGP, following Ministerial consultation. The Public Service Commission “would be providing advice to the Government in the new year about future action plans, reflecting the decision to remain in the partnership.”

Opportunity in 2025 for NZ to learn from Norway and join the OGP’s pipeline of future champions

Norway was ranked 1st in the Democracy Index and is one of the OGP’s original 8 members. When the Public Service Commission develops NZ’s 5th action plan in 2025, it could borrow Norway’s 5th action plan’s attractive open government model which:

• sees the OGP’s open government concept as crucial to a “thriving and proactive democracy”
• uses OGP membership to keep transparency at the forefront of discussions
• creates OGP commitments that rejuvenate and enhance public administration as resources shrink and tasks multiply
• only includes policy areas which need improvement, e.g., where it does less well in international rankings or where the government is not satisfied with the status of a policy area
• takes seriously the recommendations from OGP audits and follows them up.

Don’t Allow Open Government in New Zealand to Wither

To conclude, I would like to see New Zealand make the most of its OGP membership and create an ambitious and publicly endorsed 5^th action plan by:

• joining the OGP’s pipeline of future champions
• following Norway’s approach and limiting vulnerability to leadership change by collaborating across government and with civil society – noting all main NZ parties support OGP
• following Australia’s democratic lead and addressing and funding long-standing open government concerns
• setting up equal government/civil society governance.

^[i] Norway scored 1st in the Democracy Index, New Zealand 2nd, Taiwan 10th, Australia 14=, Greece 20th, and Papua New Guinea, 73rd=