Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was officially sworn in at Government House today, after releasing her Cabinet line-up and giving her first major public speech in her new role yesterday.
Opinion by David Fisher
David Fisher is a senior journalist for the New Zealand Herald who has twice been named New Zealand’s Reporter of the Year.
No matter how you voted, this is now our Government.
And today, on that first day of its existence, it's worth considering a lynch pin of our democracy that has - in my opinion - suffered with each new administration since it became law in 1982.
If nothing else, it explains clearly that we, the people, have a role in our government beyond casting a vote every three years.
The legislation actually says it exists so that all of us can be more involved in our democracy. It says this is so we can encourage accountability in those who are elected and in those public servants hired to carry out the Government's work.
There have been reasons to question that over the last administration, and the administration before that, and before that.
The OIA is not a comfortable law for politicians. The United Kingdom's former prime minister Tony Blair said bringing in his nation's Freedom Of Information legislation was one of his "biggest regrets".
Government doesn't always go smoothly, and sometimes it is hard to predict the exact impact policy will have.
Our crowded prisons are a perfect example, with the prison population higher than it has ever been. Forecasts of inmate numbers have been overtaken by the actual effect of "tough on crime" policy.
Not only is it an uncomfortable law but it can bite harder the longer a Government stays in power.
First-term governments have the glow of an idealist about them, no matter their politics. Labour in 1999-2002 was a government that loved to argue ideas. National was the same in 2008-2011.
With that sparkly-eyed optimism change is coming, it's easy to allow the spirit of the OIA to guide access to public information.
That's especially the case when most of what you're releasing is information the previous administration wanted to keep buried.
Third-term governments are different. Some change has come but not all. Some policies have worked but others haven't. Mistakes have been made and the prospect of not having a fourth term to achieve aims competes against the impact of releasing information which shows why you haven't got there yet.
OIA information was hard to wrest out of the National-NZ First coalition in 1996-1999. Labour between 2005 and 2008 was worse.
Yes, more information is released that it was in previous years. But there is evidence of increasing interference and manipulation around what is released, and when, and how.
And that's the problem. New administrations seem to look to the past when benchmarking openness, and it's hard to escape the feeling that the previous lows can be starting points for a new government.
So on this day, as a new Government is sworn in, it's worth remembering that the OIA is one of the brightest lights in our democracy.
It's a pilot light that guides the public through the arcane workings of government, taking our place in decision-making, questioning and seeking accountability.
