The newly formed tri-party government of New Zealand has already encountered two significant leaks of confidential policy plans within the brief span of a week. The leaked documents have revealed that the current Cabinet is ignoring official advice from government officials and bypassing established processes for scrutinizing proposals. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, after only 12 days in office, was surprised but had to admit that the government was ignoring official advice on repealing the Fair Pay Agreements (FPA). The leaked paper, prepared for Minister for Workplace Relations Brooke van Velden, outlined that the Cabinet would consider the repeal at its upcoming meeting.
Leaking of confidential information is a well-known tactic in contemporary politics, but it is rare for a leak to occur regarding a decision that is yet to be made. The leaked document criticized the negative impact that repealing Fair Pay Agreements would have on individuals on low incomes. It also highlighted the inequitable impact on women, young people, Māori, the disabled, and Pacific people.
In a subsequent leak, a Treasury paper revealed that the government had suspended Regulatory Impact Analyses (RIAs) for certain proposals, implying that these proposals would not undergo the usual scrutinizing processes. This decision means that repealing certain laws will face minimal scrutiny and many proposals will escape public service scrutiny. The decision is particularly drastic as most of the government’s planned activities in its first 100 days involve undoing the previous government’s legislation. The move contradicts the RIA regime that was introduced by the ACT Party when it was in a coalition with the National Party under Prime Minister John Key.
While Finance Minister Nicola Willis defended the government’s approach, maintaining that the public service was working quickly to implement the 100-day plan, Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour and Labour Leader Chris Hipkins criticized the government’s disregard for regulatory scrutiny.
The leaks and the government’s approach to policy-making have created speculation and criticism. The manner in which the three leaders of the coalition government, Winston Peters, Christopher Luxon, and Brooke van Velden, conducted themselves prompted concerns about the government’s transparency and approach to governance.