Andrew
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openpolicy.bsky.social
Andrew
@openpolicy.bsky.social
2.2K followers 520 following 10K posts
I think and know about open government and freedom of information. All posts in a personal capacity, RTs ≠ endorsement.
Born at 323 ppm
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openpolicy.bsky.social
Video of a team approaching a stop in Vitoria.
November 15, 2025 at 6:46 AM
openpolicy.bsky.social
A video view through the drivers window of a tram in Vitoria.
November 15, 2025 at 6:46 AM
openpolicy.bsky.social
Vitoria:
A shady avenue in Vitoria. Between two parts of the broad tree-lined pedestrian areas there’s is a two-way cycle lane. Beyond the second pedestrian pavement is the carriageway for vehicles. A square in Vitoria. Trees and a play area for kinds in the middle, pedestrianised in three sides, with bicycles parked near the trees. Looking down a hill in Vitoria. The street has been pedestrianised. There’s steps on the right hand side and on the left there’s a covered travelator/flat escalator for people who can’t easily walk up the hill. Buildings line the street on both sides and a church roof is in the background. Photo of suburban Vitoria with two tram tracks running through a grassed area next to a main road. Out of shot on the right is the pedestrian footpath and cycle lane.
November 15, 2025 at 6:46 AM
openpolicy.bsky.social
Bilbao:
Wooden seats and benches on a broad pavement in Bilbao, with their backs to the narrow carriageway for vehicles and cyclists. A partially sunlit apartment building in the background. A pedestrianised street in the old city of Bilbao. A broad avenue in Bilbao. It is clear that the footpaths have been doubled in width and the carriageway halved. The street is lined with trees and a bus is approaching in the distance. Another pedestrianised street in Bilbao with people walking along. Modern glass-fronted architecture is juxtaposed with older stone and brick buildings.
November 15, 2025 at 6:46 AM
openpolicy.bsky.social
I expect this panel discussion at the AGM of Transparency International NZ tomorrow evening will be far less amiable than might have been expected 24 hours ago.

Features the Director of the SFO, Commissioner of Police, and Secretary of the Ministry of Justice.
A flyer for an event organised by Transparency International NZ. Entitled 'Corruption Landscape', it asks 'Can legislative and system safeguards address current and emerging threats in New Zealand-Aotearoa'. The speakers are: Karen Chung, Director of the Serious Fraud Office; Richard Chambers, Commissioner of Police; Andrew Kibblewhite Secretary of the Ministry of Justice; Philippa Yasbek Board member of TINZ and Debbie Gee, Deputy Chair of TINZ.
November 11, 2025 at 5:11 AM
openpolicy.bsky.social
I can't see how Andrew Coster can keep his job as CE of the Social Investment Agency following this paragraph in IPCA's media release of its report. If he hasn't already resigned, he should do so or be sacked.

www.ipca.govt.nz/Site/publica...
Screenshot of part of the IPCA media release linked to in the post. It reads: "In 2023, while a member of the interview panel for the statutory Deputy Commissioner appointment process, Commissioner Coster failed to disclose to the Public Service Commission his knowledge of Deputy McSkimming’s relationship which had subsequently led to the emails alleging misconduct. This failure clearly fell below what a reasonable person would have expected of a person in his position. Subsequently, Commissioner Coster’s disclosure to the Public Service Commission on 8 October 2024, during the interim Commissioner appointment process, also fell well short of what a reasonable person would have expected, given what he knew at the time."
November 11, 2025 at 5:03 AM
openpolicy.bsky.social
The Barbara Kruger exhibition at the Guggenheim Bilbao was very good about this.

www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en/exhibitio...
November 9, 2025 at 4:44 AM
openpolicy.bsky.social
An interesting piece by Geoff Mulgan, and lots seems relevant to NZ Labour too, including this bit:

#NZpol
Screenshot of part of Mulgan’s article, linked to in the quoted post, which reads: “There are many reasons why progressive parties lost their belief in progress (which I look at in more detail in the next piece), and many electoral factors that have pushed them towards the centre and away from more radical programmes. The decline of their traditional working-class base, and its capture by the right primarily through culture, nationalism and family, drove the centre-left parties more towards the relatively prosperous and highly educated, a base of more winners and fewer losers, while pragmatism made them conclude, not unreasonably, that capturing swing voters required toning down radicalism. As a result, they slowly mutated into advocates of stability more than change; of orthodoxy more than radicalism; of piecemeal incrementalism rather than structural reform.”
November 4, 2025 at 10:02 PM
openpolicy.bsky.social
Also, I managed to walk into the Italian Job.
A photo of three early model Austin Mini cars at the junction of Charterhouse Street, Cowcross Lane, and St John Street. Two white minis with a red one in the middle.
November 3, 2025 at 5:03 PM
openpolicy.bsky.social
Back in the old stamping grounds.

#SloughHouse
#NotRomanticisingSpies
Photo of the buildings on Aldersgate Street, London, used as the location of Slough House in the spy drama ‘Slow Horses’.
November 3, 2025 at 5:03 PM
openpolicy.bsky.social
With a great display showing the names and faces of doctors from Gaza held hostage by Israel.
A display showing the names and faces of doctors from Gaza held hostage by Israel as part of its genocide. A display showing the names and faces of doctors from Gaza held hostage by Israel as part of its genocide. A display showing the names and faces of doctors from Gaza held hostage by Israel as part of its genocide. A display showing the names and faces of doctors from Gaza held hostage by Israel as part of its genocide.
November 1, 2025 at 10:25 AM
openpolicy.bsky.social
Another Saturday in Diss, another vigil for Gaza.
Two men holding placards in Diss marketplace. One is seated, holding a placard that reads ‘Starmer is complicit in Israel’s War Crimes’. The other holds one that reads ‘Stop the Genocide’. Two Palestinian flags fly beside them.
November 1, 2025 at 10:19 AM
openpolicy.bsky.social
PSA: I’m in the OG nanny state now, so won’t be able to see any DMs people might send me for the next couple of weeks.
Screenshot of Bluesky’s screen telling me that I have to verify my age to read chat messages. Not going to be doing that, so no chats for me until 9 November.
October 22, 2025 at 6:56 PM
openpolicy.bsky.social
This_is_fine.gif
A screenshot of the Guardian newspaper’s home page with the headline “Bank of England compares collapse of US private credit firms to 2007 subprime crisis”.
October 21, 2025 at 11:25 AM
openpolicy.bsky.social
Plaza de España
A black and white photo of the Plaza de España in Seville.
October 21, 2025 at 10:09 AM
openpolicy.bsky.social
Indeed. They also seem to have grasped that a public transport, cycling and pedestrian-friendly city centre assists with this.
October 21, 2025 at 6:53 AM
openpolicy.bsky.social
I clearly have an instinct for finding my professional home wherever I go.
A sign on a wall in Seville that reads ‘Consejo de Transparencia y Protección de Datos de Andalucía’. It’s the freedom of information and data protection commission for the region of Andalusia, Spain.
October 20, 2025 at 12:43 PM
openpolicy.bsky.social
Arrived: Sevilla Santa Justa
A black and white photograph of people travelling down from the main concourse of Seville’s railway station to the platforms. Light is streaming in from the top left.
October 19, 2025 at 1:53 PM
openpolicy.bsky.social
Home made paella for some people’s Sunday lunch.
Home cooked paella.
October 12, 2025 at 1:21 PM
openpolicy.bsky.social
So, in Barcelona there’s a beer in a craft brewery with an unexpected name.
A bottle of beer called ‘Pakeha’.
October 10, 2025 at 9:30 PM
openpolicy.bsky.social
The train from Vitoria to Barcelona was trundling along at about 125 km/h until we got on to the mainline from Madrid to Barcelona, and now it's zipping along at 250 km/h. 😃

Vitoria's trams were a delight, and make me wish Wellington would hurry up and restore them.
October 10, 2025 at 6:24 PM
openpolicy.bsky.social
So I’m discovering.
Avenida de Gasteiz, in Vitoria-Gasteiz. Calle Paraguay in Vitoria-Gasteiz. A tram in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
October 6, 2025 at 2:14 PM
openpolicy.bsky.social
A photo of one the streets in the old city of Bilbao. Several apartments have Palestinian flags hung from the balcony. A photo of a cast iron or corten steel sculpture of four women, connected together by a white rope looped around their shoulders. On the banks of the river in Bilbao. The sculpture is entitled "Zirgariak - Sirgueras" and it was made by Dora Salazar 2020 A sculpture made of stacked and polished metal spheres, outside the Guggenheim Bilbao. An artwork on display in the Guggenheim Bilbao exhibition of work by American artist Barbara Kruger. It shows a photo of the side of a person’s face with their hand cupped behind their ear. The text on top asks ‘Who speaks? Who is silent?’
October 6, 2025 at 11:47 AM
openpolicy.bsky.social
Guggenheim interior.
October 6, 2025 at 11:47 AM
openpolicy.bsky.social
I bet. It’s a lovely city and I’ve really enjoyed my brief time here.
A photo of the beautiful stained glass window in Bilbao’s main railway station. A blue and white ceramic covered pillar designed by Phillipe Starke, in Bilbao. The covered central plaza of the building that has many Phillipe Starke pillars. Old Bilbao building reflected I. The glass of a new building.
October 6, 2025 at 11:47 AM