Procurement

Do you trust public procurement?

Recent government reports show that it is palpably not possible for the average knowledgeable person in New Zealand to find and understand how much public money is being spent on which programs, with which consultants and companies, and whether the spending has been evaluated with a view to its original outcomes.

Four years of Open Procurement Data

Despite many government commitments to more transparency of government procurement there has been no significant improvement over the last four years.

The rise of fraud in New Zealand

A Ministry of Justice survey reflects a sharp increase in fraud and deception crime in NZ. It is clear that personal fraud is not being managed well enough to protect consumers in New Zealand, and that criminals are exploiting the gaps.

Safer Online Services

Transparency International NZ believes it is essential to balance protecting people and wider society from harmful and unsafe content against maintaining open channels for debate, freedom and transparency of information. TINZ welcomes the Government’s review of the regulatory system for media and online platforms.

Upcoming Elections and Transparency in Government

New Zealanders value a government that is open, and accountable. There are practical ways to see these qualities translated into concrete policies and actions.

Supply Chain Integrity & Investigation

The use of slave labour, child labour, debt bondage and worker exploitation is here in New Zealand and pervasive in our imports. Ultimately companies may need to invest in in-depth research of their complete supply chain and in-depth ‘feet on the ground’ investigations of suspicious suppliers.

Submission on Safer Online Services and Media Platforms Proposed Framework

Transparency International New Zealand welcomes the review of New Zealand’s regulatory system for media and online platforms reduce the exposure of New Zealanders to harmful content. The current system is out-dated, inconsistent, ineffective, and fails to adequately cover social and other emerging media. We believe with the proposal to move to a consistent, platform-agnostic, content-focused approach proposed in new framework outlined in the discussion document.

Do you trust public procurement?

Recent government reports show that it is palpably not possible for the average knowledgeable person in New Zealand to find and understand how much public money is being spent on which programs, with which consultants and companies, and whether the spending has been evaluated with a view to its original outcomes.

Four years of Open Procurement Data

Despite many government commitments to more transparency of government procurement there has been no significant improvement over the last four years.

Launch of Transparency International Australia’s Infrastructure Corruption Risk Assessment Tool

Transparency International Australia is launching a new tool to identify the loopholes that enable corruption to thrive in the infrastructure sector in the Asia-Pacific region.

Transparency of government procurement – stocktake

TINZ has been tracking compliance to the publication of procurement notices using the Government Electronic Tender System. Our latest analysis shows that there has been no improvement since 2019 and that during 2021 the situation deteriorated.

Better government procurement in 2021

New Zealand government agencies are falling woefully short in public reporting of their procurement information to the Government Electronic Tenders Service

Urgent advice to Parliament: Increase procurement transparency

Transparency International New Zealand has three areas of major concern about New Zealand government procurement: poor quality of data on the Government Electronic Tendering System (GETS), poor and incomplete publication of emergency procurements undertaken during the COVID-19 pandemic, and lack of secondary procurement data.

Better rules: better outcomes

Never in New Zealand’s history has it been more important to channel government spending inwardly to ensure it is delivering sustainable outcomes for New Zealanders. A Particularly salient section of the latest Government Procurement Rules is Rule 16 ‘Broader outcomes.’

Extending the Government procurement rules

The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is undertaking a public consultation to understand the potential benefits, opportunities, and other impacts of extending the Government Procurement Rules to more government entities in the New Zealand public sector.

New Zealand is not doing enough to fight foreign bribery

Transparency International's report: Exporting Corruption 2020: Assessing Enforcement of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, finds that active international enforcement against foreign bribery is shockingly low. The report labels New Zealand at “limited enforcement.” and finds that New Zealand is not doing enough to fight foreign bribery.

Open Letter to MBE regarding COVID-19 procurement

On 28 July, TINZ sent an open letter to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. "We encourage you both to work with Chief Executives across government to ensure that their agencies meet the compliance standards in the Procurement Rules that have been mandated by Cabinet."

Open procurement update

The level of compliance of government agencies with the mandatory procurement rules needs significant improvement. All government agencies need to improve the quality of the information that they monitor and publish about contract award notices.

Of rare earths and referenda – A stark tale of corruption contrasts

We have a long way to go to redress the imbalance of importing rare earths in return for exporting corruption. New Zealand should consider a law similar to that being introduced in Switzerland. Applying New Zealand’s relatively high standards externally, could go a long way towards helping New Zealand move to a small but influential role in reducing the import and export of corruption.

Personal protective equipment - the new gold rush

As a consequence of panic buying in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments the world over have scrambled to award massive contracts to third-party vendors, with little if any, formal process and certainly no due diligence. This has sparked the interest of opportunists and crooks alike.

Will New Zealand continue to show it can be #1 in the world?

Transparency and accountability must not be lost in the haste to respond to COVID-19. Trust is a commodity that is vital to New Zealand's economic recovery in both domestic and export markets. Here are practical steps for businesses to take now while dealing with COVID-19 and preparing for after.

Letter to Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

We consider it important that agencies are aware of, and meet, the expectations set out in the Rules of Procurement and the Quick guide to emergency procurement. We would encourage you to remind all public sector leaders of their accountability.

Personal protective equipment supply in New Zealand

New Zealand has done well in securing personal protective equipment (PPE) but could do better, particularly when it comes to distributing it within the country.

Government procurement: Open data about supplier contracts

While the publication of the NZ procurement data by MBIE is to be applauded, the quality and completeness of the data available continues to fall well short of genuine transparency. There is plenty of room for improvement.