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Member Profile Professor John Hopkins

John Hopkins was appointed to take over the directorship vacated by Conway Powell, with a term extending until the 2020 Annual General Meeting.

Dr. John Hopkins is a Professor of Public Law at the University of Canterbury with a long record of working in the fields of public integrity and the Rule of Law.

Ethics officers in all large companies?

Emmanuel Lulin, Senior Vice-President and Chief Ethics Officer at global cosmetics giant L’Oréal, predicts we will soon be seeing ethics officers in most large companies.

Once companies and other organisations were subject to the law to reinforce ethical behaviour. Nowadays the rapid speed of scientific and technical innovation is far outstripping the law’s ability to keep up. So said Lulin at a public presentation co-hosted by Professor Karin Lasthuizen,

Ethics at work: Survey of employees 2018

The first ever New Zealand findings from the international survey ‘The Ethics at Work: Survey of Employees 2018′ will be revealed on 28 November.  This event will analyse employees’ perceptions of ethics in the workplace and the challenges faced by organisations. 

Philippa Foster-Back, CBE, Director of the Institute of Business Ethics, from the UK,

In case you missed it

New Zealand transparency, integrity and accountability

Many of the more radical ideas for encouraging and protecting whistleblowing appear to have received little support during "targeted consultations" run by the State Services Commission. However, the commission says there is still an opportunity for people to put their views forward. Public feedback will be sought before the Minister of State Services intends to report back to Cabinet in April 2019 to seek agreement on final policy proposals.

4 Crucial Benefits Of Tax Transparency In New Zealand

Sport NZ seek whistle blowers to help with review into sport integrity Sport NZ are seeking the public's views to contribute towards a nationwide review into sport integrity.The sports governing body is calling on anyone involved in sport to share their thoughts on a range of integrity issues through an online survey that will be open for the next six weeks.

New Zealand politics: foreign donations and political influence

New Zealand politics: how political donations could be reformed to reduce potential influence In the aftermath of the controversy surrounding former MP Jami-Lee Ross and opposition National party leader Simon Bridges, discussions have focused on possible reforms of political donations in New Zealand. Several of these proposals warrant further discussion and contextualisation.Simon Chapple Director, Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, Victoria University of Wellington

NZ politics: foreign donations and political influence One dimension of the controversy that has attracted less attention is the connected issues of political party donations and foreign influence on New Zealand’s democratic system. TINZ mentioned.

New Zealand lawmaker accuses opposition leader of corruption New Zealand opposition leader Simon Bridges speaks to reporters on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018, in Wellington, New Zealand. New Zealand's conservative opposition party was in turmoil after one of its own lawmakers, Jami-Lee Ross, accused Bridges of corruption for hiding a donation from a wealthy Chinese businessman. Video

Justice Minister Andrew Little says there is 'scope for debate' around political funding rules Justice Minister Andrew Little is considering looking into changes to the way political parties are funded, and areas such as donation transparency could be part of the discussion

Bid to clean up NZ's business reputation divides submitters Stuff highlights comments received from the Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment discussion document on beneficial ownership

Algorithm stocktake: “need to take care in their use” . The first ever stock-take into government agencies’ use of algorithms and predictive modelling to deliver their services to citizens, indicates it must be done with caution. The Government Chief Data Steward Liz MacPherson, along with the Government Chief Digital Officer have looked at how fourteen government agencies use algorithms.

New Zealand lawmaker accuses opposition leader of corruption

New Zealand Lawmaker Reports China-Linked Political Donation to Police A New Zealand lawmaker has accused the opposition National Party leader of corruption, claiming that he sought to hide the source of a donation from a Chinese businessmen who has been linked to Beijing's international influence strategy under the ruling Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department.

Four Crucial Benefits Of Tax Transparency In New Zealand Oxfam

Corruption isn't a Kiwi value so let's not bring it here OPINION: Bruce Cotterill

Pacific

Call for transparency in PNG government luxury car deals Transparency International in Papua New Guinea has urged the government to come clean on how it procured a batch of luxury vehicles for the APEC summit. - RNZ

Sustainable Development

New Zealand signs global declaration to cut plastic waste New Zealand has joined an international pledge to cut plastic wastes from our economy and environment, Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage announced today.

News: PWYP calls for commitments on beneficial ownership disclosure and protection of civic space   In many countries which are rich in natural resources, the revenues generated from the extraction of these resources don’t benefit the country’s population. Revenues are sometimes lost through mismanagement; but in other cases, they are lost as a result of corruption.

Court decision on greenhouse gas emissions a warning for NZ. Sarah Mead (TINZ Secretary) reports on a landmark judgment by the Hague Court of Appeal which ordered that the Dutch state’s target to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions was in breach of its duty to protect its citizens’ human rights, and was deemed illegal. In the absence of ambitious action by world leaders on climate change, the case points to the growing tendency by citizens to force action through the courts.

Business Ethics

Ethics officers in all large companies? Emmanuel Lulin, Senior Vice-President and Chief Ethics Officer at global cosmetics giant L'Oréal, predicts we will soon be seeing ethics officers in most large companies.

International

The Struggle Against Corruption Timothy K. Kuhner Associate Professor, University of Auckland, Faculty of Law and TINZ member produced this documentary with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. The Struggle Against Corruption is a powerful 20-minute documentary piece featuring interviews with members of UNODC staff.

How transparency can help the global economy to grow According to the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 10-25% of the value of public contracts is lost to corruption.This means that corruption – such as fraud, waste and abuse by government contractors – costs up to $2.35 trillion globally on an annual basis.

Democratic establishments across the world continue to fall like dominoes under waves of popular anger and resentment against the decay of institutions riddled with corruption or captured by organized special interest. On Sunday, it was Brazil’s turn.  "The revolt against a moribund political class transmutes into a revolt against democratic governance itself".  

Research identifies the need for vastly improved on-line voting systems' transparency and auditing to restore observable vote counting and electoral integrity as the basis of democracies, without which concealed, computerised vote counting systems are overly vulnerable to fraud.  

International Anti-Corruption Conference opens with renewed commitments to action from governments, businesses, international orgs Transparency International Media Release

Seoul to host 2020 global anti-corruption conference

Dirty Money, Fraud and Tax Evasion Rock Corruption-Free Denmark

Daphne Caruana Galizia and Ana Garrido Ramos winners of 2018 Anti-Corruption Award Transparency International Media Release

TINZ elects four new Directors

Transparency International New Zealand elected four new directors at the October Annual General Meeting. They are Avon Adams, John Hall, Stephanie Hopkins and Ann Webster. All of them will serve a three year term from 2018 through to 2021.

Avon Adams is a member of the Institute of Directors and a Fellow of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand.

Transparency International New Zealand AGM 2018

The Transparency International New Zealand (TINZ) Annual General Meeting, held on 29 October 2018, was well attended by members in the company of non-voting invited guests. There were members zoomed-in from overseas. Stunning Wellington harbour views from ANZ’s Level 18 Board Room plus light refreshments, were conducive to a great networking occasion. TINZ Chair, Suzanne Snively, welcomed everyone and ably led the business activities of the AGM.

From the Chair

Transparency Times from the Chair September 2018

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Submissions Schedule

TINZ encourages you to exercise your democratic responsibilities by responding to invitations from government agencies, with your opinions on future direction-setting and legislation.

The following invitations of relevance to TINZ, are currently open for public comment by their stated deadline. While TINZ intends to respond to these as an organisation, we encourage everyone to become involved directly as important opportunities to exercise your democratic responsibilities.

State Sector Act reform: having our say

The State Services Commission has run a short consultation on proposed changes to the 30-year old State Sector Act. This Act is based on a model of single department delivery from one Chief Executive to a single Minister, with strong lines of vertical accountability.

The government is seeking more collective,