Transparency New Zealand

There are many excellent  articles on the topic of corruption  and the one which stands out today is this one http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/233/What_is_corruption_.html

It commences..Corruption is talked about openly in most countries these days and few countries deny they suffer from it. Which is a good thing, since it provides politicians, business and labour leaders, journalists and civil society with a rare opportunity: that of agreeing on the urgency of stamping it out…. more

Now if corruption is a dirty word in New Zealand and people who question corruption risk losing it all, then we are not one of the countries the article refers to.

In reality it is not  surprising as New Zealand has not ratified the UN convention against corruption . we don’t have fraud and we don’t have corruption because we simply deny that it exists..   simple end of story.

But is it so  we need only look at the news paper articles  or worse still try to report fraud to the police   and you will become aware just  how hopeless your task will be.

In New Zealand we have our heads in the sand , but who are we kidding? When you deny the existence of something as big as fraud and corruption you are giving it invisibility and the ability to grow.

So the question is  how big does fraud and corruption need to get in New Zealand before we get angry and call for an independent commission against corruption?   Between now and then  how many more  victims will there be    when will we say   we have had enough?