He acknowledges that the work of communications staff is skilled and highly important, but only if it’s done with the right intentions. Kirton resigned from Anacta a day before it was announced he would be chief of staff in Hipkins’ office. New Zealand has no public lobbying register or ‘cool off’ periodsHipkins responded to questions prompted by Espiner’s investigation at his post-cabinet press conference yesterday. But it does raise questions about why we don’t have more formal transparency. That suffered from concerns that the definition of lobbyists was too wide and never made it past a first reading in parliament.

Source: Stuff March 20, 2023 22:32 UTC