KEY POINTS:
Barack Obama has wasted no time addressing the economic crisis facing his country and the rest of the world but it has not been at the expense of all else.
Among his very first actions last week as US President was to sign a series of orders relating
to freedom of information, rules of ethics for his executive staff in relation to lobbyists and lobbying, and transparency and open Government.
In a new age when politicians and the public will be expecting greater transparency in the financial markets they are bailing out, it is fitting that politicians impose greater rules of transparency on themselves.
John Key could start in New Zealand with the Official Information Act.
It is indefensible that MPs legislated themselves an exemption from the Official Information Act 1982. That means that spending by MPs is not subject to the same standards of scrutiny as other taxpayer funded money.
Ministerial spending is subject to the OIA but not spending by MPs. New Speaker Lockwood Smith could pick up the baton that Margaret Wilson picked up half-heartedly in calling for the OIA to apply to MPs. He could make his mark not just with better control over parliamentary expenditure but promoting greater transparency.
It is not just an issue in New Zealand.
British MPs from Labour and the Conservatives were faced last week with an amendment bill to clarify their exemption from the Freedom of Information Act after legal rulings insisted they should reveal their expenses.
But after Conservative leader David Cameron decided not to support the exemption, and Labour MPs threatened to refuse the whip, Prime Minister Gordon Brown had to surrender as well, a great victory for the Campaign for Freedom of Information.
One of the first things Kevin Rudd did when he became Australian Prime Minister in November 2007 was to set up a register of lobbyists and set rules around the lobbying of his Government.
The only issue to surface around lobbying since the New Zealand election three months ago was the story about the leaked memo from National's political strategists Crosby Textor touting for business with the insights it has gained into the new Government.
Given Key's laid-back response to that memo, ("It is not surprising that they and other consultants used by National seek to associate themselves with our electoral success") I suspect his Government has no appetite for replicating the Obama or Rudd codes for lobbying.
The Times has just broken a story in the UK over lobbying, claiming that four members of the House of Lords were ready to accept money for amending laws - the result of some under-cover journalism.
The economic crisis must be the priority for every Government around the world but it must not become an excuse to ignore other issues.
- Audrey Young
