28 February 2012
Transparency International found that there were unexpected numbers of New Zealanders who believed corruption was well established in 2010 when gathering data for the initial New Zealand corruption barometer. It found “an amazing 37% of New Zealanders believe corruption is increasing”. Surprisingly for many of us, 4% said they had paid a bribe in New Zealand in the preceding 12 months. The “clean” Scandinavian countries with whom we are often rated scored much better. Denmark was seen as corruption free, 1% of people in Britain said they had paid a bribe, and even Australians reported much less bribery than New Zealanders.
Traditional perceptions of Britain have taken a substantial knock over the last few years, crystalising in the results of the Eurobarometer published in January as part of the pan European National Integrity Systems survey. This found that 71% of Britons felt corruption was a major problem. Evidence given to the inquiry into the News of the World seems to confirm this deterioration of standards. Last week a Deputy Assistant Commissioner at the Met presented a concerning picture of business and government ethics in London.
Speaking of Police involvement in the inquiry she said, … “the cases we are investigating are not ones involving the odd drink, or meal, to police officers or other public officials. Instead, these are cases in which arrests have been made involving the delivery of regular, frequent and sometimes significant sums of money to small numbers of public officials by journalists…. Some of the initial e-mails reveal, upon further detailed investigation, multiple payments to individuals of thousands of pounds. In one case the figure, over several years, is in excess of $125,000. There is also mention in some e-mails of public officials being placed on ‘retainers’.”
If that is the setting in Britain where only 1% of people report having paid a bribe, is there a groundswell of corruption developing in New Zealand where 4% say they have recently paid a bribe?
www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/feb/27/sun-culture-illegal-payments-leveson?newsfeed=true
28 February 2012
Transparency International found that there were unexpected numbers of New Zealanders who believed corruption was well established in 2010 when gathering data for the initial New Zealand corruption barometer. It found “an amazing 37% of New Zealanders believe corruption is increasing”. Surprisingly for many of us, 4% said they had paid a bribe in New Zealand in the preceding 12 months. The “clean” Scandinavian countries with whom we are often rated scored much better. Denmark was seen as corruption free, 1% of people in Britain said they had paid a bribe, and even Australians reported much less bribery than New Zealanders.
Traditional perceptions of Britain have taken a substantial knock over the last few years, crystalising in the results of the Eurobarometer published in January as part of the pan European National Integrity Systems survey. This found that 71% of Britons felt corruption was a major problem. Evidence given to the inquiry into the News of the World seems to confirm this deterioration of standards. Last week a Deputy Assistant Commissioner at the Met presented a concerning picture of business and government ethics in London.
Speaking of Police involvement in the inquiry she said, … “the cases we are investigating are not ones involving the odd drink, or meal, to police officers or other public officials. Instead, these are cases in which arrests have been made involving the delivery of regular, frequent and sometimes significant sums of money to small numbers of public officials by journalists…. Some of the initial e-mails reveal, upon further detailed investigation, multiple payments to individuals of thousands of pounds. In one case the figure, over several years, is in excess of $125,000. There is also mention in some e-mails of public officials being placed on ‘retainers’.”
If that is the setting in Britain where only 1% of people report having paid a bribe, is there a groundswell of corruption developing in New Zealand where 4% say they have recently paid a bribe?
Integrity Talking Points 