Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Licence needed for work use Learn More
Parliament

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 

Government Must Come Clean On Use Of Lobbyists

Labour must come clean on the use of external lobbying firms within government departments and agencies following revelations made by RNZ, National’s Public Services spokesperson Simeon Brown says.

“Reports out today suggest government departments and agencies are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on lobbying firms with close associations to the Beehive to try to manage information flows to the public and media.

“This is after the Labour Government has already massively increased the size of the public service including taking on hundreds of communications staff.

“Government organisations have reportedly been paying lobby firms to find out personal details to assist with lobbying these MPs.

“Lobbying firms are normally hired by private companies to lobby MPs, not hired by government to manage MPs.

“The Labour Government needs to explain what policies it has in place for the use of external lobbying firms by public service departments and whether this is an appropriate use of taxpayers’ money.

“The departments and entities also need to be transparent about how much money has been spent on lobbying firms over recent years and for what purpose.

“All of this has been taking place while Chris Hipkins was the Public Services Minister.

“This seems like an extraordinary waste of taxpayers’ money and one which clearly requires the light of day, so that MPs and the public know what is going on behind the scenes.”

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

Featured News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.