Media Release
Corruption Free? - NZ drops again

New Zealand has fallen to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). This is its second consecutive drop in a survey it has previously topped 7 times because of the corruption-free reputation of its public sector.

"Our government must act immediately to reestablish New Zealand's stand-out reputation for a trusted public sector". says Transparency International New Zealand Chair, Suzanne Snively. "New Zealand trades on its corruption free reputation."

"There are steps that can be taken immediately to reestablish New Zealand's exemplary reputation for a trusted public sector" says Snively. "through this, New Zealanders can gain greater returns from all the different things they do - teaching, farming, fishing, tourism, film, sport - because of our country's reputation for integrity."
The CPI is produced each year to highlight the global importance of transparency. Dropping to fourth place has huge disadvantages for New Zealand, both from a governing and economic perspective.

Denmark, Finland and Sweden are now perceived to have the least corrupt public sectors. New Zealand which was ranked number one in both the 2012 and 2013 surveys, fell behind Denmark in the 2014 CPI and then Sweden and Finland as well in the just-released 2015 survey.

Further downgrades in New Zealand's scores are likely if areas such as access to information and governance of the environment fail to keep pace with the trends in northern European countries.

"A clean reputation makes us attractive to do business with and secures qualified migrants and confident tourists. New Zealand's high ranking on the TI-CPI is a factor that gives this credibility. The fall in score and rank is a wake-up call to the Government and Public Sector. Only when we make corruption prevention routine and comprehensive can we move ahead of the northern European countries and reclaim a number1 ranking," adds Snively.

She continues, "With a commitment to a reputation for the world's highest integrity, the Government has an opportunity to take a strong leadership role in inspiring businesses and communities to build on the value integrity brings to creating a more prosperous society."

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Background information for journalists

1. [contact removed]

2. Transparency International
Transparency International is a global civil society coalition leading the fight against corruption. It compiles a number of measures of different aspects of corruption including the Corruption Perceptions Index, the Global Corruption Barometer, and the Bribe Payers Index. Information on Transparency International can be found at www.transparency.org and detailed information on the Corruption Perceptions Index can be found atwww.transparency.org/cpi.

3 The Corruption Perceptions Index
The CPI scores and ranks 168 countries/territories based on how corrupt a country's public sector is perceived to be. It is a composite index, a combination of surveys and assessments of corruption, collected by a variety of reputable institutions. The CPI is the most widely used indicator of corruption worldwide.

Top performers share key characteristics: high levels of press freedom; access to budget information so the public knows where money comes from and how it is spent; high levels of integrity among people in power; and judiciaries that don't differentiate between rich and poor, and that are truly independent from other parts of government.

4. About TINZ
Transparency International New Zealand (TINZ) is the local chapter of the global organisation - http://www.transparency.org.nz/. TINZ works to actively promote the highest levels of transparency, accountability, integrity and public participation in government and civil society in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
Transparency International New Zealand provides a free Anti-Corruption Training Tooldesigned by leading experts in the field, and enables organisations to provide training for their personnel. This was developed in partnership with the Serious Fraud Office and BusinessNZ

Transparency International New Zealand published the Integrity Plus 2013 New Zealand National Integrity System Assessment and is actively engaged in the implementation of its recommendations.
5. New Zealand's recent rankings:
2012 Rank No 1 Score 90
2013 Rank No 1 Score 91
2014 Rank No 2 Score 91
2015 Rank No 4 Score 88

6. CPI Documents from Transparency International
Corruption Perceptions Index 2015 report
Corruption Perceptions Index 2015 TI Media Release
Corruption Perceptions Index 2015 frequently asked questions
Corruption Perceptions Index 2015 data
Corruption Perceptions Index 2015 data sources
Corruption Perceptions Index 2015 Heat Map

7. Areas of assessment where New Zealand can monitor its scores and improve include:
• Access to Information
• Order and Security
• Fundamental Rights and Civil Justice
• Lack of Constraints on Government Powers and Criminal Justice
• Absence of Corruption
• Regulatory Enforcement
• Open Government.

8. Latency in the Process
Events that occurred or were reported in late 2015 may not be reflected in New Zealand's CPI ranking until the 2016 CPI. This is because our CPI scores were compiled from seven reputable data sources, each with a specific timeframe and latency.

9. Australia
Australia's score fell from 80 to 79 and its ranking fell from 11 to 13. The bottom two rankings in the 2015 CPI were North Korea and Somalia.

10. Asia Pacific CPI
Srirak Plipat, Transparency International Director for Asia Pacific, noted in the CPI report, "If there was one common challenge to unite the Asia Pacific region, it would be corruption. From campaign pledges to media coverage to civil society forums, corruption dominates discussion. Yet despite all this talk, there's little sign of action. Between Australia's slipping scores and North Korea's predictably disastrous performance, this year's index shows nosignificant improvement. Has Asia Pacific stalled in its efforts to fight corruption?

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