Finally, the bill's purpose is to improve transparency and strengthen public trust and confidence in decision making of local authorities. This is a noble aim that every New Zealander would unanimously support, and I think it's important to remind ourselves of what transparency means. I'll quote: "Transparency ensures that information is available that can be used to measure the authorities' performance and to guard against any possible misuse of powers." Where activities are done in an open way without secrets, so people can trust that they be fair and honest, "In that sense, transparency serves to achieve accountability, which means that authorities can be held responsible for their actions." 