This report published in April 2023 was primarily prepared by TINZ, with review and further contribu􀆟ons by the Parliamentary Services Library staff. The focus is on central government with some limited coverage of local government.

On 13 April NZCCL is hosting a panel discussion about the state of and promise of Open Government in light of Aotearoa New Zealand's recent Fourth National Action Plan for Open Government.

Te Kawa Mataaho have delivered New Zealand’s fourth Open Government Partnership National Action Plan. A number of commitments are related to anti-corruption and transparency.

TINZ is generally supportive of the legislation. If it works as the Bill intends it should support the Minister of Defence’s responsibility to have oversight of the Defence forces with a level of independent scrutiny and a range of investigative powers. Our concerns with the wording lie in the transparency of the process and lack of public reporting. We think that this can be provided without compromising national security concerns. That is the main focus of our brief comments.

In a comparison with 10 other jurisdictions, the absence of independent oversight of, and personal gains from lobbying in New Zealand is glaring.

New Zealand has lost the top score for Budget Transparency in the latest international Open Budget Survey. While some of the drop is temporary or can be turned around easily, the survey results raise bigger questions about what NZ needs to do next to raise the bar on fiscal transparency.