New Zealand’s Chief Ombudsman, Peter Boshier, has released his final report to Parliament before he officially departs the Office of the Ombudsman tomorrow after nine years in the role.
The Way I See It report by Mr Boshier contains his personal thoughts on the jurisdiction and constitutional position of the Ombudsman in New Zealand.
“It has become a tradition for an Ombudsman, on leaving office, to write a report to share some personal thoughts on the jurisdiction and constitutional position of the Ombudsman in New Zealand as they’ve seen it,” said Mr Boshier.
“Society has undergone such rapid change since the Ombudsman’s Office was first established in New Zealand 62 years ago, and each of my predecessors have faced a unique set of challenges.
“This is an opportunity for me, as New Zealand’s 8th Chief Ombudsman, to outline some of my own challenges over the past nine years. It is also a chance to talk about how the role is fundamental to New Zealand’s constitutional framework, yet it’s constantly evolving – which it needs to in order to stay relevant for our country.”
The Chief Ombudsman said the report “isn’t a personal memoir. Rather, it is my take on how we’ve been doing – it’s more like a school report. This is the way I see it.”
Mr Boshier came to the role after a long judicial career, having first been appointed as a Judge back in 1988.
“As an Ombudsman, I’ve been able to focus on fairness and reasonableness – rather than be tied to pleadings and evidence – I think this is one of the role’s key strengths. I felt, as a Judge, that justice didn’t always deliver fairness and that many went without redress,” he said.
“An Ombudsman is much more inquisitorial, and is able to get to the heart of the matter. The most important task of any Ombudsman is to find out what has happened, but also why that has happened.
“And if any recommendations need to be made, even if it’s simply to provide greater clarity and explanation, or a more prescriptive remedy, people’s mana should always be recognised and protected. That is why the New Zealand Ombudsman’s motto, Tuia kia ōrite | Fairness for all, sums it up for me.”
Read the report here.
