An RNZ investigation this week revealed ministers and their staff are messaged by lobbyists using apps out of the public gaze - but discoverable under the OIA. In the UK, one minister's messages exposing 'government by WhatsApp' are also in the headlines because of one journalist brutally betraying her source - and kicking off an angry ethical debate.

An RNZ investigation this week revealed ministers and their staff are messaged by lobbyists using apps out of the public gaze - but discoverable under the OIA. In the UK, one minister's messages exposing 'government by WhatsApp' are also in the headlines because of one journalist brutally betraying her source - and kicking off an angry ethical debate.

Earlier this week the Prime Minister told RNZ any citizen or group can also get their concerns in front of a government minister.

Just like lobbyists, they can submit on legislation and appear before Select Committees at Parliament to influence decisions, he said.

But this week RNZ's Guyon Espiner cast doubt on claims our system is transparent.

His RNZ investigation Mate, Brother, Comrade hinged on what he was eventually able to discover using the Official Information Act.

"I've seen thousands of emails, text messages, and even encrypted Signal communications between lobbyists, politicians, and their staff . . . to try to get what the clients want," he said.

In the UK, the channels ministers use to communicate with advisors and lobbyists, outside the official ones, is at the heart of a major scoop in the press there.

The revelations also lead the New Zealand Herald's world news section here when it broke.

"The former British health secretary wanted to "deploy" a new Covid variant to "frighten the pants off the public" and ensure that they complied with lockdown," said the Herald, citing The Lockdown Files - a series in one of the Herald's news partners, the UK's Sunday Telegraph.

The Telegraph opposed lockdowns in the UK and pushed hard against some Covid countermeasures. Some of its writers ridiculed New Zealand's Covid suppression strategy as well.

Neither Matt Hancock nor his government was actually planning to release a new Covid strain n the UK. They were merely kicking around the idea of how to exploit it to push the 'stay at home' message.

But the revelations filled eight pages of the paper the day it broke - and plenty more in the following days.

The scoop was based on more than 100,000 WhatsApp messages between Matt Hancock and his officials and others. …

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details