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Wellington, July 17, 2020
This year, Transparency International New Zealand (TINZ) asked each political party to answer seven questions that are important to addressing corruption through building stronger integrity systems with greater accountability and transparency.
These questions are about fighting corruption, integrity, accountability and transparency.
Parties’ responses will be provided in the August edition of Transparency Times.
Meantime, below is a list of suggested open-ended questions for voters to ask candidates.
Voters’ concerns
TINZ knows that many voters have the same concerns as TINZ has. These questions are for readers to ask their candidates. Readers are also encouraged to pass on this newsletter to other voters, referring them to this list of questions: (1) Integrity and trust- What does political integrity mean to you? What will you do to build trust in your leadership and your party?
2) Post pandemic recovery (2) As the country deals with Covid-19 response and recovery, what will you do to (pick any) Prevent the misuse of public funds for personal gain? Deliver relief fairly and transparently? Protect democracy and fundamental human rights? Respect Treaty partners? (3) Political Party and campaign funding-What actions are you personally taking to disclose your campaign funding from all sources? How will you make sure that money donated to your campaign is not given with the expectation of specific policy or action on your part? (4) Whistle-blowers-Describe your attitude about whistle-blowers who expose wrongdoing, (or alternative question): Are there too many, or too few, whistle-blowers in New Zealand, and why?
Note: A whistle-blower is a person who exposes secretive information or activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct (Wikipedia).
These questions for voters to ask candidates, are downloadable (.pdf format).
Questionnaires for political parties
In this election cycle, TINZ is asking each political party to complete a similar but more detailed questionnaire. Responses will be published in the August Transparency Times, on our website, and through social media in advance of the election.
Our members contributed to the development of these questions which align with our mission – fighting corruption, integrity, accountability and transparency. Our aim is to examine each political party’s understanding of anti-corruption issues and their ideas about addressing them.
The above articles appeared in the July 2020 issue of Transparency Times of Transparency International based in Wellington.
