As we approach the elections, political parties and their leaders need to commit to fighting corruption and promoting transparency in all levels of governance. New Zealand deserves a government that is honest, open, and accountable to its citizens.
We are urging parties to support this vision by taking concrete policy actions.
Last month TINZ published “Promises to Policy to Action”, our urgent call for invigorating New Zealand’s healthy democracy. We sent an email to party presidents and secretaries encouraging them to include these concrete promises into their policy platform. We offered to support them by providing more detail on policy implementation.
So far, only the TOP party has responded.
“Promises to Policy to Action” details the urgent action needed. It is shown below and is also available to download.
Stop the flows of Dirty Money
Our first major action area asks for action in stopping the flow of dirty money within and in/out of New Zealand.
For example:
- In a recent report the Independent Police Conduct Authority “...found major deficiencies in the way in which Police are responding to fraud complaints, which potentially undermines trust and confidence in not only NZ Police but the criminal justice system generally.”
- The Ministry of Justice’s statutory review of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act found foundational issues that prevent the regime from being the best it can be for New Zealand. It recommended major improvements to the regime.
The recommendations in these reports offer concrete policy approaches for political parties to assert their commitment to preventing fraud and corruption.
Promises to Action
In the 2023 Call to Action for political parties Transparency International New Zealand encourages political parties to include these concrete public policy actions in their policy platform.
