A parasitic blight on our democracy? Or a useful and necessary aid to our government departments? Those are two perspectives on the usefulness of the Wellington consultant class that contract to government agencies. The role of business management consultants took centre stage last week when National’s Christopher Luxon called time on the over-use of “consultocrats” …
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 …
Is the National Party off the hook over the Serious Fraud Office donations prosecution? That’s what the party is claiming, pointing out that no National official or MP has been charged. But of course, there was a National MP involved – albeit one no longer with the party – and he is being prosecuted. In …
A consensus is building around the need for reform of New Zealand’s rules governing political party donations and spending. Many commentators are asking whether our electoral laws are fundamentally broken and, if so, how they should be changed. Currently the leading ideas appear to be to clamp down further on donations, better regulate loans to …
It’s the prerogative of Cabinet ministers and politicians to be friends with wealthy individuals, and then to accept their generous donations of money, travel, and accommodation. But those relationships and gifts do come at a cost. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, as politicians of the political right used to say – meaning …
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 …
The sudden departure of ANZ CEO David Hisco this week has been sold as the bank having high standards of accountability. The intention is obviously to reassure the public, customers, shareholders, regulators and the politicians that all is well, and the local board of ANZ has everything under control. But not everyone’s convinced. And there …
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 …
Parliament increasingly looks like a tawdry and dirty place in the wake of the Jami-Lee Ross mega-scandal. There will certainly be many in the public who have less trust and respect for MPs and political parties as a result. The quality and ethical standards of our politicians might now come under greater scrutiny. Jami-Lee Ross …
One of the more substantial and contentious political issues to arise out of the Jami-Lee Ross mega-scandal concerns electoral finance rules, and the increasingly promoted idea that taxpayers should fund the parties, so that they are less reliant on private funding. The Government has now indicated that it is open to introducing extensive state funding …
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 …
Business, money and politics are always drawn towards each other as natural bedfellows. But so often this relationship gives off a bad smell, raising questions about the influence of money on public policy and the decision-making process. Politicians and parties come to be seen as compromised by their relationships with the sources of their funding. …
There is something rotten going on in a number of New Zealand government departments and agencies. That’s the first conclusion from the scandal revealing security and intelligence agency Thompson and Clark is widely used by the public service. Hopefully the ever-widening investigation by the State Services Commission will shine some light on this, but the …
It was labelled “corrupt” and “cash-for-access” when the last government did it. But now that Labour Government ministers are fundraising by holding exclusive dinners for the wealthy, it’s suddenly OK. This is the story of how the Minister of Finance is leveraging his executive powers to try and get money out of the rich and …
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 …
Chris Trotter continues to be a thorn in the side of the Labour Party leadership. MPs will hate his column today, which calls into question the integrity of this week’s caucus reshuffle and paints a picture of a bitterly divided party – see: Dishing out rewards to hungry enforcers. Trotter says the reshuffle has been …