Christopher Luxon has responded to questions about whether a National Government under him would be honest and transparent.
Nearly five years ago when Labour was first elected, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern promised her Government would "foster a more open and democratic society. It will strengthen transparency around official information".
National Party leader Luxon was quizzed on whether he would promise the same of any hypothetical Government he led, after accusations from now-former Labour member Gaurav Sharma that Ardern's MPs were being educated on how to dodge the Official Information Act (OIA).
"I can tell you we're going to be straight with the New Zealand people, tell it as it is - the good, the bad and the ugly, and then we'll move forward and get solutions and outcomes for New Zealanders," Luxon told AM host Ryan Bridge.
"The role of any politician is to communicate to the New Zealand people as openly as they possibly can on a range of issues and I think that's the way you should be doing [it], and the way you should lead. It's the way you lead large organisations, the way you lead a country I believe," said Luxon, who was the boss of Air New Zealand before entering Parliament in election 2020.
Luxon added transparency and openness were important.
"Talking straight to the New Zealand people about outcomes and the achievement of them, or not, is how you get judged as a Government."
In defence of her Government's transparency, Ardern said over 97 percent of OIA requests were completed on time - despite demand more than doubling since 2016.
"We proactively release Cabinet Papers, diaries," she said in Parliament on Tuesday, in response to questions to ACT Party leader David Seymour. "This is physical evidence and outcomes of how we treat the OIA."
Under questioning by National's Paul Goldsmith, Justice Minister Kiri Allan said the Government upholding "our legal obligations under the Official Information Act is fundamental to the principle of accessibility".
"This Government has worked to improve the release and transparency of official information," Allan told MPs. "This side of the House, this Government, has absolutely taken our responsibilities under the OIA to enhance and ensure the transparency and that principle of accessibility, which we find is fundamental and critical."
Last year, Stuff senior political journalist Andrea Vance described the Government as "one of the most thin-skinned and secretive I have experienced".
