New Zealand's chief ombudsman, Peter Boshier, has compelled Deputy Health Minister Casey Costello to apologize to New Zealand's public broadcaster RNZ and University of Otago public health professor Janet Hoek for mishandling their Official Information Act (OIA) requests.
The judge stated during the ruling that Costello's refusal to provide information was "unreasonable and unlawful.
Earlier this year, RNZ reported that Costello's public statements on tobacco and e-cigarette policies were contradictory to the official documents she sent to health officials, leading to a thorough review of her actions.
In late December last year, RNZ submitted an Official Information Act request, asking for all documents related to tobacco control and e-cigarette policies that were sent, stored, or received by the Ministry of Health.
Costello refused to disclose any documents, citing a provision in the Internal Investment Act that protects confidential advice provided to ministers and officials.
RNZ has requested the ombudsman's intervention, as the investigation has revealed a deep concern from the public regarding the way Costa Llo handles information.
Bachr stated that "she considers the definition of the request scope to be insufficient and incomplete, as it appears that there is a significant amount of information within the request scope that she had not taken into consideration.
Costello has not yet provided the necessary information to the inspector.
The deputy minister failed to provide unedited information to the inspector. The deputy minister did not provide an explanation for her decision-making in handling the requests, including which public interest factors she considered when determining that the public interest in disclosing information outweighed the need to withhold information.
This decision will guide the handling of future OIA requests, as Boxer insists on issuing it as a "case illustration" of the 1989 Inspector General Regulations.
The Chief Ombudsman has ruled that Costello should apologize to RNZ and Hawk for their Official Information Act (OIA) requests and detail any shortcomings found.
RNZ has received a written apology from Cosgrove, in which she stated that her actions "had shortcomings that resulted in you not receiving the level of transparency in government decision-making that you expected. I deeply apologize for this.
Costello's statement of apology indicated that her office was in a "transition state", and while this cannot be an excuse for her decision-making in this situation, her office now has better capabilities to handle OIA requests.
Earlier this year, Minister Costello was accused in parliament, and multiple scandals forced her to explain why her comments in the media were inconsistent with official documents.
In January of this year, RNZ asked Costello whether she proposed freezing tobacco excise tax for three years, to which she claimed she had never considered.
I have not discussed this issue at all. In fact, I have not even sought advice specifically on it. I have not considered freezing the consumption tax at all.
The Ministry of Health sent a document to Costello proposing a freeze on consumption tax.
The additional information you provided suggests freezing tobacco consumption tax for three years.
Costello's office sent a document to the Department of Health proposing to assist in developing new legislation to replace the Labour Party's smoke-free plan. The document included recommendations to freeze the consumption tax, as well as claims that nicotine is no more harmful to health than caffeine. However, Costello maintains that he does not know the source of this document.
This document is an excerpt from a large number of historical documents - they were just there, and then someone compiled them all into a big list. I'm not sure who put it on my desk.
Casey Costello led the initiative to abolish a law that decreased the number of tobacco retailers from 6,000 to 600, removed 95% of nicotine from cigarettes, and created a smoke-free generation by banning sales to individuals born after 2009.
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