Kerre Woodham: New Zealand's conflict of interest problem

What I found more outrageous on the internet yesterday was yet another example of this country's propensity for doling out jobs for the boys and indeed the girls. Every political party does it, every government does it, rewards the party faithful and their generous donors and backers with cushy sinecures. Grafter-in-chief would have to be Trevor Mallard's posting to Dublin – although would it? Because there are plenty of other opportunities to point the finger. Look at Simon Bridges, the ex-National Party leader was appointed as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency, Waka Kotahi, in March 24.

Guest Post: My experiences of the Police Professional Conduct Unit.....

A guest post by Lucy Rogers on Kiwiblog

My experiences of the Police Professional Conduct Unit: the PPCU, not the IPCA, are the true villains

I knew immediately on the day of my arrest that there was something terribly wrong with police oversight and accountability structures in this country, and said as much in a Kiwiblog article at the time. The impunity with which the Police acted (e.g. not caring or reacting when I recorded their QID numbers, and the fact that they did not bother to delete footage from my phone recording my arrest) told me straightaway that they had got away with this kind of behaviour again and again and again.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: RBNZ's Board Chair & Medical School at Waikato?....

Question: How Can RBNZ's Board Chair Make the Best Non-Political Monetary Decisions when he's at the same time begging Finance Minister Willis for a new Medical School at Waikato?

Its a tense time at the Reserve Bank. It currently has an Acting, or Temporary, or Stand-In, or Stand-Up, or On Probation, or Interim, Governor ever since the Former Governor walked off in a huff. Finance Minister Willis and Reserve Bank Chair of the Board, Neil Quigley, who is also Vice Chancellor of Waikato University, are discussing monetary & financial regulation matters which put potentially billions of dollars of Big Monopoly Private Bank profits and bonuses at stake. This week, Willis & Quigley together announced there would be a Review of the Capital Requirements that the retail banks must adhere to. The Finance Minister was the driver behind that announcement, which came about from lobbying by the Big Banks.

John MacDonald: The Covid inquiry is messy - but a must-have

This might be because I’m still recovering from the Bird Flu/Man Flu combo that had me stuck in bed last week. Or maybe, on this occasion, Winston Peters is actually making sense.

Either way, I agree with him that it’s Mickey Mouse that we have an epidemiologist who was involved in our COVID response, leading the inquiry into it. The Royal Commission.

idbkiwi: Is She Actually up to the Job?

I note several social-media political commenters have expressed concern at the appointment of Ms Pania Gray as one of two investigators into the hot-button issue of the voting and census shenanigans surrounding Manurewa Marae. This disquiet is based on a perceived conflict of professional interest between Ms Gray and a member of the Whanau Ora Commissioning Agency – that agency having very close ties to Manurewa marae. Be that as it may, I have concerns of a different nature: I question if she is up to the task.

Simon Anderson: They No Longer Pretend to Care What We Think

I copped a fair amount of flak for publishing footage of two politicians sitting together outside a cafe. The essence of much of the criticism was that politicians are entitled to private lives – which of course they are – and that filming them in public was an unwarranted intrusion. Here I’ll explain why I think the circumstances are newsworthy.

Bryce Edwards: Steven Joyce’s revolving door entry into a $4000/day govt appointment

Former National Government Finance Minister Steven Joyce is being paid $4000 a day to chair the new Government’s “expert advisory panel” on infrastructure. That’s over twice what Prime Minister Christopher Luxon gets, and makes Joyce New Zealand’s highest-paid public servant. At the same time, the former “Mr Fixit” sits on several property development boards as well as running a lobbying consultancy firm.

Joyce’s political appointment is the latest that could have the Government charged with “cronyism” or creating “jobs for the boys”. Other highly paid political appointees include Simon Bridges, Bill English, Murray McCully, and Roger Sowry.

Bryce Edwards: Should government departments be giving contracts to lobbying firms?

Is it a problem that lobbying firms are being given contracts by government departments? Such firms, who assist private businesses and vested interests in their bid to influence government, are being hired by the government and given access to decision-making processes and officials, therefore potentially providing private sector clients with privileged access to power.

In other countries, this conflict of interest would be regarded as an unacceptable threat to the democratic process. But here in New Zealand, there don’t appear to be any specific rules or guidance for government departments about employing firms that are involved in lobbying activities.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 11/7/23

Peeni Henare – the latest minister subjected to “conflict of interest” questions – is confident he has broken no rules

The PM would be cheered to see his doughty Associate Minister of Health, Peeni Henare, getting on with the job of appointing people to government jobs while “conflict of interest” accusations are being aired by his political opponents and some news media.

Newstalk ZB on Friday posted a report headed Senior Political Correspondent: “It’s a clear conflict” (HERE).

Barry Soper: Michael Wood's airport shares raise questions about other decisions he's made

On the face of it $13,000 worth of shares wouldn't be seen by many as a windfall, certainly nothing to lose your job over.

That's the value in Auckland Airport shares owned by the man known as the Little General around Parliament, mainly because he's always so cock sure of himself.

But and it's a big BUT, Michael Wood is the Transport Minister, or was up until a couple of days ago, and the Prime Minister says he will be again once he sells down his shares to avoid any conflict of interest.

Christoph Schumacher: What does Govt being 'more of a friend than foe' to RBNZ mean?

In my last column, I used a puzzling proverb to show that we can’t simultaneously have low inflation and cheap money. Today, I use the equally puzzling comment made by Adrian Orr in the OCR announcement that the government is ‘more of a friend than foe’ to explore the relationship between our government and the Reserve Bank.

The government owns the RBNZ, but since 1989, it has operated as an independent body. As such, the RBNZ answers directly to Parliament, and the RBNZ governor is directly accountable for any failure to achieve the price stability and inflation objectives.

Peter Dunne: TAB betting

Bookmaking on horse racing events was made illegal in New Zealand in 1911. Until 1949, the only legal form of betting was on-course at race meetings. When off-course betting was legalised in 1949, consistent with the statist approach of the time, a single national agency, the Totalisator Agency Board, was established to regulate and control betting in New Zealand.

Like most aged, monopolistic government agencies, it has struggled to keep up with the times, including the growth of on-line, offshore betting on sporting events other than just horse racing; on-line casinos; and other forms of gaming, like Lotto. The TAB’s ongoing financial viability has been an issue for some years now.

Bryce Edwards: Time for the Auditor General to investigate Mahuta contracts

Pressure is increasing on the Auditor General to undertake an inquiry into numerous contracts, appointments and grants awarded to members of Cabinet Minister Nanaia Mahuta’s family by various government departments she has had official responsibility for.

Allegations and revelations are mounting up, meaning this issue can no longer be ignored. As economist and political commentator Eric Crampton wrote yesterday, if the allegations – especially those documented by Herald journalist Kate McNamara – bear up, then “New Zealand is a fundamentally corrupt country. If it doesn’t, the air needs clearing”.

Graham Adams: Ardern dodges questions on Mahuta’s conflicts in Three Waters and is slippery on the role for minister’s sister

As meagre information about the appointment of Nanaia Mahuta’s younger sister, Tipa, to a pivotal role in Three Waters is gradually prised out of the government, it is becoming clear the Prime Minister has no intention of letting the public know exactly how that shell game played out.

What we do know is that Tipa’s elder sister transferred her power of appointment as Minister of Local Government to her Cabinet colleague, Kelvin Davis, in February 2021. He appointed Tipa to the chair of Te Puna – the Māori Advisory Group, which advises the new water regulator, Taumata Arowai, in May.

That ministerial power was returned to Nanaia Mahuta in June.

Bryce Edwards: Government appointments under scrutiny

Are our ethical standards in politics dropping? Recently there have been several appointments made by Government and related agencies that have raised questions about conflicts of interest or about whether correct procedures have been followed.

However, not all scrutiny and criticisms are welcomed or embraced. Sometimes those that raise questions about politicians and officials are charged with nit-picking, points-scoring, scandalmongering, or even various forms of prejudice.

And yet, by scrutinising those in power, and taking seriously even the most minor of lapses of ethics or rule-breaking, we are best able to ensure that our system of public life is as honest as possible. So, it’s important to keep an eye on any apparent trends of increasing integrity violations.

Graham Adams: More on the Mahuta mess

A ministry investigation shows that concerns about perceived conflicts of interest are not going away — no matter what the mainstream media says.

History is littered with confident assessments that made people look extremely foolish soon afterwards. A famous example came just before the 1929 sharemarket crash when economist Irving Fisher proclaimed: “Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.”

Watching Newshub’s Isobel Ewing effectively advise the nation last week there’s “nothing to see here” in the gathering storm over Nanaia Mahuta’s apparent conflicts of interest made it difficult not to think of Fisher and other short-sighted sages.

Ewing’s rush to judgment seemed, at best, premature. She was reporting on Environment Minister David Parker’s announcement that the ministry would hold an internal inquiry into the appointment of Nanaia Mahuta’s husband and two members of her extended family to a five-member, public-sector working group in waste management.

Graham Adams: Mahuta’s serious credibility problem

A response emailed from Nanaia Mahuta’s office to The Platform on Tuesday made it impossible not to think of the cynical quip reputedly made by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck: “Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.”

On Tuesday, in a four-point response, Mahuta’s office denied she had any conflict of interest over the appointment of members of her family to government roles.

The first point was unequivocal: