Grievance Man v. Bureaucracy

New Zealand is not the first nation to discover that the material blessings of the welfare state come wrapped in red tape.

Trying to deal with their burgeoning bureaucracy*-- crack New Zealanders, is "like boring a hole through treacle." Now the nation is considering a solution to government regimentation and pettifoggery. Last week, after a year of deliberation, New Zealand was pressing ahead with plans for a new, independent government official who will act as a civic watchdog in much the same fashion as the famed, 153-year-old Swedish institution known as the ombudsman, or grievance man.

As envisaged in a bill before Parliament that is solidly backed by both political parties, New Zealand's ombudsman (pronounced om-boods-man) will have access to government records and power to investigate based or autocratic official decisions, as well as inequities in the law. To be known officially as the Parliamentary Commissioner for Investigations, he will be able to take action on his own or on the complaint of any citizen who, for a modest fee ($2.80), seeks redress from unfair treatment by officialdom.

Initially, at least, New Zealand's commissioner would not have the broad investigative powers of Sweden's ombudsman, notably the right to scrutinize judicial and local government procedures. Furthermore, he will be required to hold preliminary hearings in private, although in Sweden, Finland and Denmark, the ombudsman's strongest weapon is the widespread, chastening publicity that results from open investigation. To critics who want more powers for the commissioner, the government replies that when the first grievance man is appointed--probably by year's end--his effectiveness will not depend so much on his legal prerogatives as on the wisdom and courage of the man who gets the job.

*-- New Zealand has one government employee for every 25 citizens, v. one per 102 in Britain, one per 74 in the U.S.

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