Welcome to Wiki of Influence

Our Goal

Wiki of Influence is a database that aims to empower the New Zealand public with information on vested interests and their influence on democratic processes. We do this so as to create awareness on how and why policies and laws are often made in favour of the powerful and to the detriment of the vast majority of the New Zealand public.

Who we are

We are a team of  political analysts and researchers hosted at Te Kura Kāwanatanga School of Government within Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington.

How do we define ‘vested interests’?

Vested interests can be defined as individuals, corporations or consortia that further their private interests utilising wealth, social status, media/PR networks and political influence. While this may not be illegal, the gains of vested interests often happen at the expense of ordinary people, or prevent changes beneficial to the wider society. Vested interests use multi-pronged strategies (corporate lobbying, PR companies, media influence, political financing, accounting and consulting) to achieve private gain which is often contradictory to the public good and collective wellbeing of New Zealand society.