The 2024 worldwide Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) was published in early February 2025.
And Aotearoa New Zealand has dropped four points to 83 / 100. We’re now fourth. We used to be first or joint first.
So not great.
The Index is pointing to corruption as a major problem, particularly around climate change. Check out the whole report here.
But let’s get to the positive. Here’s a great resource from the OAG: its Integrity Framework. I’m highlighting two aspects of it:
1. The “integrity gap”
This is where public sector organisations have a gap between what they say and what they do. Do kaimahi feel ok speaking out when they see integrity breaches? Do leaders hold themselves accountable to uphold integrity standard and highlight poor behaviour?
One framework element to help bring this to life is listen up/speak up. Kaimahi need to feel safe to raise concerns and share ideas without fear of negative consequences. But how? Four ways are informally, by raising a formal complaint, going straight to the chief executive or lastly making a protected disclosure. There may also be a case for anonymous reporting.
2. Kaimahi processes
Integrity plays a part in the whole employee lifecycle. This starts by making clear during recruitment and induction what integrity means and what the organisation’s values are.
Then it carries on during performance management, training and career development, and finally at exit interviews.
But isn’t it obvious how to behave and what integrity means? In my experience, kaimahi don’t always understand what their Code of Conduct is all about and what it means to them.
One issue I’ve come across at least twice over the years is kaimahi using the organisation’s equipment out of hours for personal use. Hang on – tax and rate payers are paying for that equipment and can they borrow it free of charge as well? Of course not.
Then of course, there’s the big stuff: fraud. The biggest public sector fraud happened at the Otago District Health Board. In 2009, Mike Swann and Kerry Harford, were convicted of defrauding the Board of $17 million. Between them they received an average of $50,000 a week over six years. They created 198 invoices from Sonnford Solutions, a company formed by Harford. They then signed off the invoices themselves and paid the money to their company.
Easy to do if there’s no oversight and no-one feels safe to speak up.
Lobbying: the wild west of our political system
Do we know who’s lobbying ministers, MPs and councillors? No. We have some of the least stringent lobbying laws worldwide. That means no legally binding code of conduct, ethics policy or transparency regulations for lobbyists. And it’s not just the private sector that lobbies; universities, government agencies and state-owned enterprises spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars each year on lobbying firms.
This lack of transparency is a major loophole and one we need to fix. It’s good we’ve got an Integrity Day today. Here’s hoping for a move upwards from fourth in the next worldwide perceived corruption index. Here’s hoping every one in the public sector is acting with integrity. And here’s hoping we clean up our lobbying industry.