A Ministry of Justice survey reflects a sharp increase in fraud and deception crime in NZ. It is clear that personal fraud is not being managed well enough to protect consumers in New Zealand, and that criminals are exploiting the gaps.

Transparency International NZ believes it is essential to balance protecting people and wider society from harmful and unsafe content against maintaining open channels for debate, freedom and transparency of information. TINZ welcomes the Government’s review of the regulatory system for media and online platforms.

New Zealanders value a government that is open, and accountable. There are practical ways to see these qualities translated into concrete policies and actions.

The use of slave labour, child labour, debt bondage and worker exploitation is here in New Zealand and pervasive in our imports. Ultimately companies may need to invest in in-depth research of their complete supply chain and in-depth ‘feet on the ground’ investigations of suspicious suppliers.

Transparency International New Zealand welcomes the review of New Zealand’s regulatory system for media and online platforms reduce the exposure of New Zealanders to harmful content. The current system is out-dated, inconsistent, ineffective, and fails to adequately cover social and other emerging media. We believe with the proposal to move to a consistent, platform-agnostic, content-focused approach proposed in new framework outlined in the discussion document.

The recent research report commissioned by Te Waihanga - New Zealand Infrastructure Commission makes it clear New Zealand has the necessary standards and guidance to enable infrastructure transparency. However, these measures are not currently being sufficiently followed to facilitate transparency within large New Zealand public infrastructure projects.

The Inspector-General of Defence Act is now law. This law sets in place the process for establishing independent oversight to provide an avenue for independent scrutiny of the New Zealand Defence Force and its activities. Civil society was heard in the process, however OIA overrides and limited disclosure of investigations limit transparency

In June the Independent Electoral Review panel sought submissions on its interim report. TINZ responded with a submission supporting many of the panel’s recommendations, but not all. Here are some that we find concerning:

The New Zealand government is ‘finally’ preparing legislation to address Modern Slavery and exploitation in New Zealand.

In this short video, prepared for a Taiwan government meeting, TINZ experts outline the issue of modern slavery in New Zealand and discuss how it affects the lives of people worldwide. Our experts discuss approaches for reducing it in our procurement and supply chains.

In early July TINZ CEO, Julie Haggie, and Director, Brendon Wilson, presented to a visiting delegation of provincial Vietnamese public sector leaders. The session focused on the importance of participation, transparency and accountability in public sector activities.

Pacific youth supported by Transparency International Papua New Guinea, Transparency Vanuatu and Integrity Fiji sent an open letter to Pacific leaders advocating that they prioritise the fight against corruption and gender inequality.