Public procurement accounts for up to US$13 trillion globally each year and remains highly vulnerable to corruption. New guidance from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) outlines how governments can use carefully designed incentives—alongside sanctions—to strengthen business integrity and reduce corruption risks in public contracting.

A great present to unwrap for Christmas, MBIE is releasing their Government Procurement Dashboards.We are promised they will be live by Christmas on their website.

The 5th Edition of the Government Procurement Rules goes live on the 1st December 2025. Using simpler language, the new edition places an increased emphasis on transparency and accountability for the spending of public money.

The recently revised rules for central government agencies undertaking procurement are a positive step in increasing transparency of government procurement.

TINZ is generally very supportive of the proposed changes. If followed these changes will increase transparency and accountability of the spending of the public purse. We recommend that the NZ Government Procurement Rules should also be reviewed against international standards such as the Open Contracting Partnership Global Principles and the OECD Principles for Integrity in Public Procurement.

The Auditor-General has recently used his position to express our shared concerns about the dangers to constitutional integrity when politicians give themselves the power to make direct public funding decisions or to enable non-transparent access to natural assets.