New Zealand Least Corrupt Country in the World

New Zealand is seen as the least corrupt country in the world, according to a new report by the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, which shows New Zealand and Denmark tied for the top spot – with a score of 87 out of 100 – in a review of 180 countries. Radio New Zealand reported on the ranking with the story republished in Stuff.

The most corrupt countries on the Index are Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria.

Justice Minister Andrew Little told Morning Report the ranking showed New Zealand took anti-corruption measures very seriously.

Little said the reports highlighted one of the growing risks as the impact of money on electoral processes.

“That’s an issue that we put in our foreign donations ban to our electoral law, we’ve committed to a rewrite of our electoral law to bring it up to speed with all of the measures that are needed to preserve its dignity,” he said.

The ranking – judged by businesspeople and experts – is based on the perceived levels of corruption in the public sector, such as bribery, money laundering, and fraud, as well as various surveys and benchmarks.

Transparency International New Zealand (TINZ) chair Suzanne Snively said New Zealand’s strength was in its commitment to investigate and prosecute instances of fraud.

She said organisations that aimed to deter wrongdoing in the public sector could also help improve New Zealand’s score if they were given extra resources.

There were also areas of improvement for New Zealand too, she said.

“We expect more transparency around lobbying of MPs. And we think there is more than can be done to reduce the influence of funding from vested interests on political outcomes.”

Original article by RNZ.co.nz, Stuff, January 24, 2020.