Watch
Follow public decisions over time — not just when they make the news.
Having a voice matters. Having the capacity to keep using it matters too.
Independent. Member-powered. Evidence-led.
This is the front door. The Portal is where we follow the work together.
What we can build together
The more of us who help build it, the more we can follow.
Membership helps give this work time, independence and staying power. It helps pay for the people and tools needed to keep following public decisions and the records behind them.
None of us can know everything or follow every decision alone. Together, we can notice more, check more, bring more knowledge into the room and keep going when a question is worth following.
- More public decisions we can keep following over time.
- More source records we can check properly.
- More practical explainers and civic tools people can actually use.
- More patterns we can test across councils and public bodies.
- More source-led public-interest work.
- More specialist knowledge we can bring in when it matters.
- More local knowledge connected back to the public record.
- More questions that can be followed with evidence, not guesswork.
- More staying power after the headline or election has passed.
Membership helps fund the platform and the work. It never buys the conclusion.
Why we exist
Being allowed to take part is not the same as having the capacity to keep up.
Public processes may be open to everyone, but following them properly takes time, information, persistence, expertise and sometimes money.
Well-resourced organisations can pay people to monitor government, read the paperwork, commission advice, build relationships and stay involved for years.
Everyday people are usually expected to do the same work around everything else in their lives. We think there should be a better way.
Follow what matters. Keep an eye on the decisions, records and public processes that affect our communities.
Understand the bigger picture. See what happened before, what is documented, what remains unknown and what record is still needed.
Build capacity together. Pool funding, skills, local knowledge and expertise so one person does not have to carry the whole burden.
What we do
Follow the decisions. Check the source. Decide for yourself.
We’re building a place where everyday people can see what is happening, follow where the information came from, understand what is still unclear and work out what they can responsibly do next.
They know how the system works. We should too.
The boring document may be the important one.
Check
Go back to the reports, minutes, agreements and source documents.
Explain
Turn council and government language into normal language people can use.
Connect
Show what happened before, what changed and what still needs checking.
Build capacity
Members help give the work the time, people and tools to keep going.
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Take the next step
Use the record and practical civic tools to work out what can responsibly happen next — without turning a question into a conclusion.
Keep going
Stay with the decision after the headline, consultation or election has passed.
Step inside the Portal
See what we’re building now.
Follow
Decision Watch
Follow public decisions through the paper trail and see what we know, what changed and what still needs checking.
Explore Decision WatchCheck
Investigations
Read source-led public-interest work, follow the receipts and see the questions still being worked through.
Read investigationsExplain
Tools and explainers
Use practical civic tools that make public processes easier to understand and easier to take part in.
Explore civic toolsWhy Lobby for Good exists
We kept seeing the same problem from different angles.
Lobby for Good grew out of years spent trying to understand public decisions through records, council processes, information requests, legal disputes and formal accountability systems.
Again and again, the hard part was not simply whether people were allowed to participate. It was whether they had enough time, information and support to stay with a question long enough to understand what had actually happened.
Large organisations can pay people to keep going. Everyday people are often doing the same work at night, after work, with their own money. So we started building the thing we wished more people had access to.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE OFFICIAL PROCESS ENDS, BUT YOU STILL DON’T HAVE A CLEAR ANSWER?
Tech · Public Policy · Advocate · Mum
Independent public-interest work
Same questions. Whoever is in power.
We don’t tell people who to vote for. We keep asking the same questions whoever is in power, and we show people where the information came from so they can decide for themselves what to think.
What was promised? What was decided? What evidence was used? Who pays? Who benefits? What changed? What happens next?
The election will end. The lobbying won’t.
The first 1,000
Can 1,000 of us build something one person never could?
That is what the First 1,000 are really about. Not 1,000 people who agree with us. Not a political mandate. And not a claim that 1,000 members solve New Zealand’s accountability problems.
It is a practical experiment: can enough everyday people collectively give independent public-interest work the time, tools and staying power to keep following the decisions that matter?
100 members Start building the shared capacity to keep following the record.
At 250, we can build toward More decisions followed, more records checked and more useful explainers.
At 500, we can build toward More source-led work, specialist input and capacity to stay with harder questions.
At 1,000, we can build toward More staying power for an independent, evidence-led People’s Lobby built with everyday people.
One person can be ignored. Thousands are harder.
These are capacity goals, not guaranteed staffing or output commitments. Membership helps give the work time, independence and staying power. It never buys the conclusion.
The People’s Lobby
You don’t have to be an expert. You just have to believe this work should exist.
We’re building this with everyday people so more of us can follow public decisions, understand the record, bring what we know and stay involved beyond a single headline or election.
One person can be ignored. Thousands are harder. Help us build it.
