MPI failing in their obligation to give public information, say experts

The Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) is failing to give out information that it is legally required to supply under law, say researchers and reporters.

Under the Official Information Act of 1982 (OIA), public organisations are required to release information requested by members of the public, so long as it does not breach national security, interfere with the law or seriously damage the economy.

Dr Glenn Simmons, who was behind a controversial University of Auckland report last week which showed under-reporting in the commercial fishing sector, said MPI was increasingly difficult to get information out of.

"I have yet to meet anyone who actually got any information in a timely manner, if at all," said Dr Simmons.

"I have experienced the same, delays, non-replies, been ignored, and refusals that were referred to the Ombudsman."

Te Waha Nui filed its own OIA on April 4, 2016, asking to see the total amount of over-the-limit and under-sized fishing offences for the Auckland region in the past year.

The information arrived on May 18, six-and-a-half weeks after the initial correspondence, and two weeks after an extended 10-day period.

"This information is easily produced from their prosecutions and/or offences databases by running a report or exporting it to an excel file,” Dr Simmons said.

“It does not take close to two months."

Similarly, Newshub’s Pacific Affairs Correspondent Michael Morrah, who has been reporting on over-fishing issues in the past week, said he had continual problems with MPI.

“I've filed several OIA requests with MPI over the years,” said Mr Morrah.

“They're very good at prolonging OIAs, as are many government departments, and often what you get back when they do respond is unhelpful as they simply reject your request citing a section of the Act.”

Mr Morrah realises government departments are under pressure to deal with a large amount of requests, but doesn’t believe the ministry is totally transparent.

"This may well be down to a basic lack of resources to deal with the many dozens of requests for information such departments receive. In other instances, I believe, the delays and refusals are deliberate," he said.

Now, Mr Morrah is calling on the ministry to release CCTV footage of commercial vessels dumping fish back into the ocean, though the ministry is citing legal reasons for withholding this.

An MPI spokeswoman has responded to these claims saying the sheer volume of requests is enough to complicate the process.

“(MPI) receives around 500 requests every year that are managed under the Official Information Act,” she said in an emailed statement on behalf of the ministry.

“The number of OIA requests we deal with is increasing over time.

“We are also tending to receive more requests asking for large amounts of information over a broader range of topics.”

The spokeswoman also said that non-specific or complex requests also make it difficult to get information in a timely manner, as they are required to retrieve information from a range of sources “and ensure that decision-making is supported by appropriate reviews by subject matter experts”.

This fits Chief Ombudsman Dame Beverley Wakem’s findings in her 2015 report which said that one of the biggest issues for public organisations was the broad scope and size of OIA requests.

In conjunction with their OIA obligations, MPI is also committed to the Cabinet Declaration on Open and Transparent Government and the New Zealand Government Open Data programme.

“Under this programme we are working to make more of our datasets openly available for reuse via our website,” said the MPI spokeswoman.

“Releasing datasets in this way makes it easier for the public to access government information.”