Transparency
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The Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment is committed to transparency and openness in its work and conduct.
Interaction with Parliament
The Commissioner's assistance to Parliament is his highest work priority and is governed by a code of practice developed through the Officers of Parliament Select Committee.
Before a report is released, the Commissioner and his staff offer briefings to various affected parties. These include Ministers the recommendations are being made to, and spokespeople from all political parties in Parliament.
The Commissioner will also appear before Select Committee to discuss published reports and submissions made on bills, inquiries or petitions.
The Commissioner is open to meet with any Member of Parliament to discuss environmental issues.
Throughout investigations, the Commissioner and his staff hold a wide variety of stakeholder meetings with officials, researchers, industry representatives and iwi.
Gathering information
The Environment Act 1986 gives the Commissioner and his employees strong powers to gather information.
As a general principle, the Commissioner believes that access to information is a critical element in protecting the environment.
Consequently, in the course of his investigations the Commissioner and his staff gather a wide range of information from both official and private sources.
Technical advice may be contracted from experts, and information is gathered from people with particular knowledge of or interest in topics under investigation by the Commissioner.
The Commissioner has the power under section 19 of the Environment Act to require that he be provided with information not available to the general public.
However, the Commissioner and his staff are required under section 20 to maintain secrecy in respect of all information gathered for their work, “except for purposes connected with the administration of this Act or with the carrying out of the provisions of this Act”.
These provisions are designed to give members of the public or people acting in a professional capacity the confidence to speak frankly to assist the Commissioner with his investigations.
While the Commissioner and his staff may use or disclose such information to carry out the Commissioner’s functions under the Environment Act 1986, they cannot do so for any other reason.
New Zealand Legislation website – section 19 of the Environment Act 1986
New Zealand Legislation website – section 20 of the Environment Act 1986
Protected disclosures
Sometimes known as "the whistle-blowers' Act", the Protected Disclosures Act 2000 allows employees to, in some circumstances, disclose information to the office about serious wrongdoing in or by their organisation.
The Act protects people's identity where possible and may penalise an employer who takes action against someone for making a protected disclosure.
For details on what can be disclosed and how to disclose it, we recommend you refer to the Protected Disclosures Act, consider getting legal advice, and contact the Office of the Ombudsman for more information and guidance.
If you wish to make a protected disclosure to the Commissioner, please contact us.
New Zealand Legislation website – Protected Disclosures Act 2000
Ombudsman website – The Ombudsman helps the community in its dealings with government agencies
Contact details for the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment
Access to information held by the office
The Commissioner’s advice to Parliament generally takes two forms: reports on investigations, and submissions on bills, inquiries, petitions or sometimes policy proposals.
After tabling or submission, all of the Commissioner’s reports and submissions are made publicly available on this website.
The Commissioner is subject to the Official Information Act 1982. However, the Environment Act’s requirement that the Commissioner and his staff maintain secrecy in respect of all information gathered in the execution of their statutory duties may prevent the office from providing such information to the public.
If you would like to request any other information from the Commissioner please contact us.
Disclosure of interests
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, has disclosed his interests.
For each investigation the Commissioner’s staff are required to disclose to the Commissioner any potential conflicts that might arise.