The OpenLabourNZ conference

The NZ Herald reports:

Need Winz advice or want to challenge Government policy? Just leave a comment on the minister’s Facebook page.

An open, transparent government should interact with the public using the internet and social media, the Labour Party says.

The party held its first OpenLabourNZ conference at the weekend, promising to improve transparency and ways the public can engage the Government. …

Kiwiblogger and National Party member David Farrar, who attended the conference, said it remained to be seen what the Labour Party would adopt.

“But they’ve been having a good open process to get people’s ideas. Often in policy development, a party is pretty opaque, where you just see what comes out in the end.”

The highlights for me were the video contributions from Andrew Raseij from the US, and Senator Kate Lundy of Australia. The best ideas are often already being implemented somewhere else, and this was no different. We also had Senator Lundy’s advisor, Pia Waugh, who was a non stop source of good ideas and enthusiasm.

Turnout was a bit down on what I expected for an event like this, but it was good to see half a dozen MPs there, including Phil Goff. Culture changes only happen if the leadership buys into it – otherwise it becomes a silo.

The Open Labour Wiki will be updated with some of the ideas from the conference, and I look forward to seeing what formal policy emerges from the process.