Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a former top politician and Transport …
New Zealand has a problem with money in politics. National and NZ First have been the subject of Serious Fraud Office investigations. And now that Labour mayors Phil Goff and Lianne Dalziel have been added to the list of fraud investigations, this should cement in the fact that we have a problem across the political …
A very concerning element of the current NZ First donations scandal is the role of lobbying and lobbyists close to the Government. The most recent story from RNZ’s Guyon Espiner and Kate Newton, revealed that lobbyist Doug Woolerton, who is also a trustee of the NZ First Foundation, had been advocating for law changes on …
NZ First is facing the boot at this year’s election, especially as it’s now embroiled in an unfolding donations scandal, which comes on top of low poll ratings. But what effect will the scandal have on NZ First’s government coalition colleagues? And is Labour and the Greens’ hands-off stance appropriate, or are they ethically compromised? …
Does money buy policy in New Zealand politics and government? Based on the ongoing political finance scandal involving New Zealand First, which comes hot on the heels of the Serious Fraud Office charging four people in relation to donations to the National Party, New Zealanders have every reason to doubt the integrity of the electoral …
New Zealand is officially one of the least corrupt countries in the world. But it could be argued that our political system is still biased in favour of the wealthy. Here – as in other countries – wealthy individuals and businesses are able to disproportionately influence policy decisions and the distribution of resources in their …
When politicians are in bed with vested interests it shapes the world in a particular way. It means that the most powerful and rich in society get their way, and the will of ordinary people is sidelined in a democracy. It means that Governments do the bidding of corporate interests, and political agendas that don’t …
In many other parts of the world, the close relationship between our Prime Minister and a leading business lobbyist would be considered corrupt, but in New Zealand it’s seen as “business as usual”. Does that make it right? Is it in the public interest to have the politicians and lobbyists in each other’s pockets? The …
Perhaps the public has looked at the Tax Working Group proposals for a capital gains tax and come back with a “no”. Certainly, the opinion poll published last night about the tax proposals looked quite definitive – the headline for Tova O’Brien’s Newshub scoop was: Large majority of New Zealanders don’t want capital gains tax – …
Debate about the role of corporate lobbying in New Zealand’s political process continues in 2019. Political commentator and newly-declared lobbyist Mike Williams was at the centre of a minor dispute over the influence of lobbyists in New Zealand last week. The debate arose out of story on RNZ’s Checkpoint about the battle over Lime scooters …
It might traditionally be the “workers party”, but at the moment Labour is making a serious play of inviting business into the tent, in order to stop their traditional foe lobbing bombs from the outside. That’s the upshot of this week’s major charm offensive from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to the business community. Her speech …
It’s been a long time coming, but Nicky Hager’s battle with the Police, who badly mistreated him when they investigated his Dirty Politics book in 2014, has finally come to an end. Victory for Hager comes in the form of the Police making him a significant apology and a substantial financial payout. This is not …
New Zealand might be officially the least corrupt country on earth, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing wrong here. Plenty of concerning issues exist about integrity and transparency in political and public life. But at the same time, it’s worth celebrating the positives. New Zealand’s #1 status Yesterday, the global anti-corruption NGO Transparency International released …
In many democracies, they call it the “revolving door” of influence – whereby political insiders shift easily between government jobs or positions and lobbying work in the private sector. It’s considered especially pernicious because it can cause conflicts of interest and inequalities of power in democracies. Essentially, lobbying firms and their clients have become more …
Last month, Labour’s Neale Jones was part of the team carrying out coalition negotiations with NZ First and the Greens. On Friday, he finished work as Jacinda Ardern’s Chief of Staff. Today, he is a lobbyist – beginning work as the New Zealand director of Hawker Britton, an Australian political lobbying firm that’s just reopened …
Like any sector in society, those who own and operate businesses have a vested interest in influencing governments to make rules that favour their operations. And not only is the power of business extraordinarily strong, many argue it has increased significantly in recent decades, alongside worsening economic inequality in most countries. This is a point …