Perception is reality, until proven otherwise
A year ago, I expressed my horror about New Zealand’s fall
to 4th place in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index
(CPI).
I noted at that time that our ranking in some other surveys had also
dropped and talked about how our lack of accessible data made it difficult to
respond to surveys in a factual and meaningful way.
Our drop in score on the CPI again this year did not come as
a surprise and sadly, I was probably not quite as horrified as I was last year.
Maybe this signals a level of complacency. The downward trend continues, and
predictions are that we can expect a further drop in score and ranking. All in
all, not good when New Zealand relies and trades on its reputation for honesty
and integrity.
Our score dropped from 83/100 in 2024 to 81/100 in 2025 and
while our ranking remained at fourth (tied with Norway), what's really
frightening is the drop of 8 points since 2012 with 6 of those 8 points lost
over the last 4 years. We might take some small comfort that the scores of
comparator countries like Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands and the top
contenders, Denmark, Singapore and Finland have also dropped, but none has
dropped as much as us! And we're still better than Australia, Canada, the UK and
the US.
A number of things sit behind the fall in score, but much
comes from 2 surveys with questions about general bribery and corruption risks,
plus the extent to which public funds are diverted for corrupt purposes in
areas such as trade, public contracting, licensing, judicial
decision-making as well as nepotism. The drop in score signals a loss of
confidence that integrity systems are working well.
We know that the score and ranking doesn’t fall entirely at
the feet of procurement, yet, we need to ask ourselves if we are doing enough
to dispel the public’s views about the integrity of government procurement
processes and contracting.
We’ve strengthened the integrity provisions and increased
the transparency obligations in the Government Procurement Rules. Still the
declining confidence evidenced by the CPI signals the need to go further. We
may not get back to #1 any time soon; getting back to the top would require us
to improve and other countries to falter.
We value integrity and transparency in our procurement
activities, but we also want speed, simplicity, and flexibility. It’s hard to
do both but still, we cannot be complacent, say it’s too hard. Transparency
International New Zealand’s Chair Anne Tolley said it best - "While New
Zealand remains among the least corrupt countries in the world, the reduction
in our points and drop in ranking is a reminder that complacency is not an
option in our battle against corruption.”
Some will ask why we should even care when we are still near
the top of the leader board. The short answer is that corruption costs in both
hard cash and soft power. It drives up costs through inflated pricing,
sub-standard quality, and outright theft, wasting public funds. As for soft
power, integrity is our power. With public trust and confidence in government
at an all-time low, our reputation is vital. It opens doors and gives us a
voice when we try to do anything globally.
I don’t want to live in a world that doesn’t at least aim to
be non-corrupt and I certainly don’t want to live in a New Zealand that
tolerates corruption.
