In December eight civil society organisations gave a ‘summer reading’ briefing to Minister Hipkins in his capacity as Minister for Public Service. This followed our work over the past year, alongside other civil society organisations, on improving New Zealand’s commitment to the Open Government Partnership (OGP).

TINZ has been tracking compliance to the publication of procurement notices using the Government Electronic Tender System. Our latest analysis shows that there has been no improvement since 2019 and that during 2021 the situation deteriorated.

The New Zealand Open Government Partnership Independent Review Mechanism is seeking public comment on the draft report about the level of completion and the results of New Zealand’s third National Action Plan. The draft concludes that major progress has been made on one commitment but “The remaining eleven commitments made only marginal or no progress in opening up government practice.” The two-week public comment period ends at the close of business on 24 February 2022.

As businesses grapple with ethics in an uncertain world, a new ‘field guide’ to ethical leadership, with practical decision-making tools for leaders and teams is being released, featuring well-known New Zealanders and leading global businesses.

Poorly regulated political finance regimes can undermine the integrity of processes and institutions of political participation and representation, resulting in corruption and a loss of public trust in politics.

New Zealand remains on top of the annual Corruptions Perception Index. Here are details from our perspective.

New Zealand is once again ranked least corrupt in the world by Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index. This year New Zealand’s score of 88 out of 100 is unchanged resulting in it being first equal with Denmark and Finland.

New Zealand’s high CPI score is good for business. Stable, trusted and open democracies give a sense of confidence to international investors looking for good returns on their investments and the comfort of knowing their investment isn’t at risk from corrupt practices.

Corruption may be a multifaceted problem, but it is one we know how to solve. Here are the fundamental steps to curtail the vicious cycle of corruption, human rights violations and democratic decline.

TINZ’s submission on the AML/CFT legislation is important – there are very few organisations that can try to speak for the victims of money laundering and encourage the necessary institutional response on their behalf.

What is acceptable tax planning as opposed to unacceptable tax avoidance? Unfortunately, that will always be a question of the facts in any circumstance and will often be influenced by the perspective of the country seeking to assert tax avoidance.

The New Zealand Ombudsman, Peter Boshier, is responsible for resolving complaints about decisions on OIA requests. He also monitors the general OIA compliance and good practice of public agencies, and provides guidance and training.