One of the most important principles of local democracy is also one of the simplest: the people have a right to see and hear how decisions affecting their communities are made.
As elected members of the Waitematā Local Board, we are there to represent the people from Newmarket and Parnell, across the city, through Ponsonby and Herne Bay, across to Grey Lynn and Westmere and everyone in between. That means listening to them, advocating for them and, importantly, being accountable to them. I have long championed that openness should therefore be our starting point. Introducing Open Workshops to Waitematā Local Board being an example. Confidentiality should be the exception, used only when there is a genuine and lawful reason for it.
The Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 makes this principle clear. Section 47 provides that, except where the legislation allows otherwise, local authority meetings are open to the public. Section 48 permits the public to be excluded on specific grounds. Importantly, the legislation allows the public to be excluded from the whole or the relevant part of proceedings.
That distinction “whole or the relevant part” matters.
At the Waitematā Local Board meeting on 25 August, the adoption of our 2025–2026 Annual Report was moved into Confidential. The report contained detailed financial information that needed to be released to the New Zealand Stock Exchange before it could be made generally available. There was a legitimate reason for confidentiality at the time we moved to Confidential.
But confidentiality should not become a blanket covering for everything that gets discussed while a meeting is behind closed doors.
During the discussion, we were informed of an additional statement to be included in the report. It became contentious. The proposed addition had not been something board members had been expecting, and it risked unfairly damaging the reputation of an important and highly respected stakeholder. My concern was particularly significant given that this stakeholder had already faced unfair adverse media attention as a result of ill-informed comments by our Chair, Alex Bonham.
At the August meeting, Board members were blindsided by Chair Bonham, despite her leading staff to believe “the Local Board was keen” on the proposed addition.
At that point, the issue was no longer simply about adopting the confidential draft Annual Report. The statement under debate was contentious, and I believe it should have been debated in an open part of the meeting.
I asked that this part of the discussion be moved into an open meeting. That request was declined by the Chair with no reasons given. I then requested this part of the discussion be recorded, that too was declined with no reason given.
There are times when confidentiality is necessary. Commercially sensitive information, personal privacy, legal privilege and other matters specifically recognised by law must sometimes be dealt with away from the public gaze.
But the existence of one legitimate confidential matter should not mean that every related issue can automatically be dealt with behind closed doors.
There is a practical principle here that I believe all elected representatives should follow: if a matter can be discussed openly, it should be discussed openly.
Our constituents pay us through their rates. They should not have to wonder what is being discussed behind closed doors whether they would agree with it, or whether their representatives had an opportunity to challenge it. They should be able to watch us debate difficult issues and ultimately make decisions.
Transparency is not an inconvenience to democracy. It is democracy.
Trust in public institutions is built when people can see how decisions are made. Accountability is meaningful when elected representatives know that their decisions and their reasoning are visible to the people who elected them.
Politicians are entrusted with power. That power belongs to the public, not to individual office holders. Using it responsibly means recognising that openness is not something to be offered when convenient, it is a fundamental part of the responsibility that comes with public office.
The people of Waitematā deserve a Local Board that is prepared to have difficult conversations in the light whenever the law permits it.
When people with power choose secrecy where openness is possible, something important is lost.
It is a dark day for democracy when people entrusted with power do not use that power responsibly.
To contact Sarah Trotman in her capacity as a C&R Member, email her at sarahtrotman@outlook.com
To contact her in her capacity as an Elected Member of Auckland Council’s Waitematā Local Board, email her at sarah.trotman@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz or you can give her a call on M: 021 487 583. (Sarah Trotman, onzm)
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