General
« Previous Entries Next Entries »Open Government Partnership: Are we on the right track?
Wednesday, October 21st, 2015Here’s an op-ed piece I wrote a couple of weeks ago. I shopped it around the media, but they weren’t interested. You’d think the media might have the most to gain from debate about open government. (In the end, Scoop took it). At a meeting in the beating heart of the government precinct late last month, […]
Open government: did the government get it right?
Wednesday, October 14th, 2015The government has released its own draft self-assessment of its performance under the Open Government Partnership. It thinks its doing a pretty good job. Do you agree? The government is seeking comments until this Friday. You can give your views here: NZOGP_ActionPlan@ssc.govt.nz
How the Film and Literature Board of Review almost derailed the Film Festival
Friday, September 11th, 2015Here’s an article I wrote about 10 years ago. It’s about how the President of the Film and Literature Board of Review used her powers to make interim publication orders…. and then stopped. Bits of the law and practice may now be a bit out of date. But I’m inclined to think it’s relevant to […]
Open Government: your chance to have your say
Monday, September 7th, 2015As you might know, the New Zealand government has signed up to the Open Government Partnership, a forum of countries working to promote government that is open, accountable and responsive to citizens. Last year, the New Zealand government issued its first OGP Action Plan for 2014-2016. It sets out commitments by the NZ government aimed […]
Some questions for the PM
Monday, September 15th, 2014I’m struggling to find the provisions in NZ’s policy about the classification of documents that allow the PM to declassify documents for the purpose of protecting his reputation (his word, not mine, on Morning Report this morning). Perhaps the PM could help me out here. The PM has said he would declassify documents to prove […]
Is Whale Oil a journalist (2)?
Friday, August 22nd, 2014Some time ago, I wrote about Cameron Slater’s claim to be a journalist, which he is invoking for the purposes of protecting his confidential sources. The District Court ordered him to turn over his sources in a defamation case brought against him by Matt Blomfield. The court said Slater didn’t qualify for source protection under […]
Did Nicky Hager “make stuff up”?
Monday, August 18th, 2014As many of you know, I act for Nicky Hager. I vetted his book, Dirty Politics, and the three before that. It is a surreal experience watching what happens to Nicky’s books in the days after their publication. It often seems as if the book that’s being discussed by politicians and in the media is […]
New book by Nicky Hager
Monday, August 11th, 2014For those who haven’t heard, Nicky Hager has a new book coming out this week. It will be launched at Unity Books (57 Willis St) at 5pm on Wednesday. Nicky and others will start speaking at 5:15pm and the book will be made available for sale after that. All are welcome to attend.
Taurima Report
Wednesday, May 14th, 2014As many of you know, I was on the panel for the TVNZ inquiry into Labour Party activities at TVNZ by Shane Taurima and other TVNZ staff members. Other panel members were TVNZ’s Head of Corporate and Legal Affairs Brent McAnulty and CEO of the Radio Broadcasters Association Bill Francis, and we were ably assisted […]
Press Council to tackle bloggers
Wednesday, May 14th, 2014This is my column for the first edition of the NewLaw magazine. The Press Council wants to spread its wings. It has decided to fly farther afield, casting its eagle eye over new terrains on the internet, including bloggers. Will the online community welcome the attentions of this defender of speech and guardian of journalistic […]
« Previous Entries Next Entries »