Economy of New Zealand

http://www.all-laptopfan.com/,http://www.all-keyboard.com/ New Zealand has a market economy that depends greatly on international trade, mainly with Australia, the European Union, theUnited States, China, South Korea and Japan. It has only small manufacturing and high-tech sectors, being strongly focused on tourism and primary industries such as agriculture. DELL INSPIRON 1464 Keyboard Free-market reforms over recent decades have removed many barriers toforeign investment, and the World Bank in 2005 praised New Zealand as being the most business-friendly country in the world, before Singapore. Traditionally, New Zealand's economy was built on a narrow range of primary products, such as wool, meat and dairy products. SONY VAIO VGN-NW240F Keyboard As an example, from approximately 1920 to the late 1930s, the dairy export quota was usually around 35% of the total exports, and in some years made up almost 45% of all New Zealand's exports.^[16] Due to the high demand for these primary products – such as the New Zealand wool boom of 1951 – New Zealand enjoyed a high standard of living. ACER TravelMate 2800 Series Keyboard However, commodity prices for these exports declined, and New Zealand lost itspreferential trading position with the United Kingdom in 1973, due to the latter joining the European Economic Community. Partly as a result, from 1970 to 1990, the relative New Zealand GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power declined from about 115% of the OECD average to 80%.Lenovo IBM ThinkPad Edge E420 Keyboard New Zealand's economy has been based on a foundation of exports from its very efficient agricultural system. Leading agricultural exports include meat, dairy products, forest products, fruit and vegetables, fish, and wool. New Zealand was a direct beneficiary of many of the reforms achieved under the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, with agriculture in general and the dairy sector in particular enjoying many new trade opportunities in the long term. Lenovo IBM ThinkPad Edge S420 Keyboard The country has substantial hydroelectric power and sizeable reserves of natural gas, much of which is exploited due primarily to major Keynesian import substitution-oriented industrial projects (See Think Big). Leading manufacturing sectors are food processing, metal fabrication, and wood and paper products. Lenovo IBM ThinkPad Edge E420S Keyboard Some manufacturing industries, many of which had only been established in a climate of import substitution with high tariffs and subsidies, such as car assembly, have completely disappeared, and manufacturing's importance in the economy is in a general decline. Since 1984, the New Zealand government has undertaken major economic restructuring (known first as Rogernomics and thenRuthanasia), Lenovo IBM ThinkPad T420 Keyboard moving an agrarian economy dependent on concessionary British market access toward a more industrialised, free-market economy that can compete globally. This growth has boosted real incomes, broadened and deepened the technological capabilities of the industrial sector, and contained inflationary pressures. Inflation remains among the lowest in the industrial world. Lenovo IBM ThinkPad T420i Keyboard Per-capita GDP has been moving up towards the levels of the big West European economies since the trough in 1990, but the gap remains significant. New Zealand's heavy dependence on trade leaves its growth prospects vulnerable to economic performance in Asia, Europe, and the United States. Lenovo IBM ThinkPad T420S Keyboard Between 1984 and 1999, a number of measures of New Zealand's economic and social capital showed a steady decline: the youth suicide rate grew sharply into one of the highest in the developed world;^[18] the number of food banks increased dramatically;^[19] marked increases in violent and other crime were observed;^[20] the number of New Zealanders estimated to be living in poverty grew by at least 35% between 1989 and 1992;^[21] SONY VGN-FE11M Keyboard and health care was especially hard-hit, leading to a significant deterioration in health standards among working and middle-class people.^[22] Between 1985 and 1992, New Zealand's economy grew by 4.7% during the same period in which the average OECD nation grew by 28.2%.^[23] ACER TravelMate 3232WXMi Keyboard From 1984 to 1993 inflation averaged 9% per year, New Zealand's credit rating dropped twice, and foreign debt quadrupled.^[21] Between 1986 and 1993, the unemployment rate rose from 3.6% to 11%. The New Zealand economy has recently been perceived as successful. However, the generally positive outlook includes some challenges.  HP Pavilion DV7-3065dx Keyboard New Zealand income levels, which used to be above much of Western Europe prior to the deep crisis of the 1970s, have never recovered in relative terms. For instance, the New Zealand nominal GDP per capita is about 80% that of the United States. Income inequality has increased greatly, implying that significant portions of the population have quite modest incomes.  HP 516884-001 Keyboard Further, New Zealand has a very large current account deficit of 8–9% of GDP. Despite this, its public debt stands at 33.7% (2011 est.)^[25] of the total GDP, which is small compared to many developed nations. However, between 1984 and 2006, net foreign debt increased 11-fold, to NZ$182 billion, NZ$45,000 for each person.^[13] SONY VAIO VGN-FS315Z Keyboard The combination of a modest public debt and a large net foreign debt reflects that most of the net foreign debt is held by the private sector. At 31 June 2012, gross foreign debt was NZ$256.4 billion, or 125.3% of GDP.^[26] At 31 March 2012, net foreign debt was NZ$141.65 billion or 104.4% of GDP.^[27] New Zealand's persistent current-account deficits have two main causes.  HP Pavilion DV7-2177cl Keyboard The first is that earnings from agricultural exports and tourism have failed to cover the imports of advanced manufactured goods and other imports (such as imported fuels) required to sustain the New Zealand economy.^{[citation needed]} Secondly, there has been an investment income imbalance or net outflow for debt-servicing of external loans. SONY VAIO VPC-F12 Keyboard The proportion of the current account deficit that is attributable to the investment income imbalance (a net outflow to the Australian-owned banking sector) grew from one third in 1997 to roughly 70% in 2008. Historically, New Zealand had a highly protected, regulated and subsidised economy. HP Pavilion dv6-3007tu Keyboard This stemmed at least partly from trends started in the first half of the 20th century, when the Liberal Government and later the First Labour Government introduced social security systems with, for the time, very wide-ranging scope (from state pensions to unemployment benefits and free education and health care), while also regulating industry, mandating trade unionism and industrial arbitration. SONY VAIO VGN-NW35E/W Keyboard Imports were also heavily regulated. While called "welfare statism" by some,^[29]it was accepted that until at least the 1950s both main parties (Labour and National) generally supported this trend, even though critics pointed to negative effects on the general economy and argued that increasing emigration could be blamed to a large degree on these policies.^[30] TOSHIBA Satellite M640-BT2N23 Keyboard By the 1960s, the New Zealand economy's terms of trade began to decline. This was largely due to the decline in export receipts from the United Kingdom, which in 1955 took 65.3 percent of New Zealand's exports. By the year ended June 1973, during which Britain formally entered the European Economic Community, this had fallen to 26.8 percent. DELL NSK-D8001 Keyboard By the year ended June 1990 its share had fallen to 7.2 percent and in the year ended June 2000 its share was 6.2 percent.^[31] To a substantial degree, the economic restrictions remained in place or were even sometimes extended in the early second half of the 20th century. However, reforms in the 1980s and early 1990s were then to turn this situation into its opposite. SONY VGN-FE41S Keyboard Between 1984 and 1995, successive New Zealand governments enacted policies of economic deregulation informed by microeconomics. The policies aimed to liberalise the economy and were notable for their very comprehensive coverage and innovations. Specific polices included: floating the exchange rate; establishing an independent reserve bank; TOSHIBA 6037B0028502 Keyboard performance contracts for senior civil servants; public sector finance reform based on accrual accounting; tax neutrality; subsidy-free agriculture; and industry-neutral competition regulation. Economic growth was resumed in 1991. New Zealand was changed from a somewhat closed and centrally controlled economy to one of the most open economies in the OECD.^[32]  DELL Inspiron 1564 Keyboard Since 1984, government subsidies including agricultural subsides were eliminated; import regulations were liberalised; the exchange rate was floated; and controls on interest rates, wages, and prices were removed; and marginal rates of taxation were reduced. Tight monetary policy and major efforts to reduce the government budget deficit brought the inflation rate down from an annual rate of more than 18% in 1987.  HP Pavilion DV7-2173cl Keyboard The deregulation of government-owned enterprises in the 1980s and 1990s reduced government's role in the economy and permitted the retirement of some public debt. Deregulation created a very business-friendly regulatory framework. A 2008 study and survey ranked it 99.9% in "Business freedom", and 80% overall in "Economic freedom", Lenovo 3000 G430 4152 Keyboard noting amongst other things that it only takes 12 days to establish a business in New Zealand on average, compared with a worldwide average of 43 days. Other indicators measured were property rights, labour market conditions, government controls and corruption, the last being considered "next to non-existent" in the Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal study.^[33]  ACER Aspire 1690 Keyboard According to the Heritage Foundation, New Zealand has the strongest private property rights in the world, scoring 95 on a scale of 100. In its 'Doing Business 2008' survey, the World Bank (which in that year rated New Zealand as the second-most business-friendly country worldwide), ranked New Zealand 13th out of 178 in the business-friendliness of its hiring laws.^[34]  HP 519265-001 Keyboard The 1990s liberalisations also have been blamed for a number of significant negative effects. One of them was the leaky homes crisis, where the liberalisation of building standards (in the expectation that market forces would assure quality) led to many thousands of severely deficient buildings (mostly residential homes and apartments) being constructed over a period of a decade. The costs of fixing the damage has been estimated at over NZ$11 billion. FUJITSU Lifebook E8210 Keyboard Economic growth, which had slowed in 1997 and 1998 due to the negative effects of the Asian financial crisis and two successive years of drought, rebounded in 1999. A low New Zealand dollar, favourable weather, and high commodity prices boosted exports, and the economy is estimated to have grown by 2.5% in 2000. HP Pavilion DV7-3183cl Keyboard Growth resumed at a higher level from 2001 onwards due primarily to the lower value of the New Zealand dollar, which made exports more competitive. The return of substantial economic growth led the unemployment rate to drop from 7.8% in 1999 to 3.4% in late 2005, the lowest rate in nearly 20 years. FUJITSU Siemens M1010 Keyboard Although New Zealand enjoyed low unemployment rates in the years immediately prior to the financial crisis beginning in 2007, subsequent unemployment rose. New Zealand's large current account deficit, which stood at more than 6.5% of GDP in 2000, has been a constant source of concern for New Zealand policymakers and hit 9% as of March 2006. Compaq Presario CQ62-358TU Keyboard The rebound in the export sector is expected to help narrow the deficit to lower levels, especially due to decreases in the exchange rate of the New Zealand dollar during 2008. New Zealand's economy has been helped by strong economic relations with Australia. Australia and New Zealand are partners in "Closer Economic Relations" (CER), which allows for free trade in goods and most services. TOSHIBA 9Z.N4WSC.001 Keyboard Since 1990, CER has created a single market of more than 25 million people, and this has provided new opportunities for New Zealand exporters. Australia is now the destination of 19% of New Zealand's exports, compared to 14% in 1983.^{[citation needed]} Both sides have also agreed to consider extending CER to product standardisation and taxation policy. TOSHIBA Satellite M645-S4070 Keyboard New Zealand initiated a free trade agreement with Singapore in September 2000 which was extended in 2005 to include Chile and Brunei and is now known as the P4 agreement. New Zealand is seeking other bilateral/regional trade agreements in the Pacific area. US goods and services have been competitive in New Zealand, though the then-strong US dollar created challenges for US exporters in 2001.  HP Pavilion DV6-1350us Keyboard The market-led economy offers many opportunities for US exporters and investors. Investment opportunities exist in chemicals, food preparation, finance, tourism, and forest products, as well as in franchising. The best sales prospects are for medical equipment, information technology, and consumer goods.  HP Pavilion DV7-3188cl Keyboard On the agricultural side, the best prospects are for fresh fruit, snack foods, specialised grocery items (e.g. organic foods), and soybean meal. A number of US companies have subsidiary branches in New Zealand. Many operate through local agents, with some joint venture associations. The United States Chamber of Commerce is active in New Zealand, with a main office in Auckland and a branch committee in Wellington. ASUS F6VE Keyboard However, as of the 2010s, China is now New Zealand's second-largest trading partner, behind Australia.^[36][37] On 17 June 2010, Xi Jinping, China's vice-president, travelled to Auckland, New Zealand for a three-day visit, along with more than 100 senior business leaders.^[38] New Zealand welcomes and encourages foreign investment without discrimination. DELL NSK-DB301 Keyboard The Overseas Investment Commission (OIC) must, however, consent to foreign investments that would control 25% or more of businesses or property worth more than NZ$50 million. Restrictions and approval requirements also apply to certain investments in land and in the commercial fishing industry. In practice, OIC approval requirements have not hindered investment. HP Pavilion dv6-3057tx Keyboard OIC consent is based on a national interest determination, but no performance requirements are attached to foreign direct investment after consent is given. Full remittance of profits and capital is permitted through normal banking channels. This free investment by foreign capital has also been criticised. DELL Vostro PP38L Keyboard Groups like Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) consider that New Zealand's economy is substantially overseas-owned, noting that direct ownership of New Zealand companies by foreign parties increased from $9.7 billion in 1989 to $83 billion in 2007 (an over 700% increase), while 41% of the New Zealand sharemarket valuation is now overseas-owned, compared to 19% in 1989. HP Pavilion DV7-3057nr Keyboard Around 7% of all New Zealand agriculturally productive land is also foreign-owned. CAFCA considers that the effect of such takeovers has generally been negative in terms of jobs and wages. Prior to the economic shocks which occurred upon Britain's joining the EEC in the 1970s and closing as a primary New Zealand export market, measured unemployment in New Zealand was very low. TOSHIBA Satellite l20-135 Keyboard In 1959 and 1960, for example, the country was officially at full employment.^[39] One Labour party representative recently joked in a speech that the Prime Minister of the day knew the name of every unemployed person.^[40] Between 1985 and 2012, New Zealand's unemployment rate averaged 6.29%. Toshiba Satellite L30-10X CPU Fan After the stock market crash of 1989, unemployment began to rise reaching an all-time high of 11.20% in September 1991.^[41] By 2007, it had dropped again and the rate stood at 3.5% (December 2007), its lowest level since the current method of surveying began in 1986. This gave the country the 5th-best ranking in the OECD (with an OECD average at the time of 5.5%). Toshiba Satellite A300-21H CPU Fan The low numbers correlated with a robust economy and a large backlog of job positions at all levels.^[42] Unemployment numbers are not always directly comparable between OECD nations, as they do not all keep labour market statistics in the same way. The percentage of the population employed also increased in recent years, to 68.8% of all inhabitants, SONY Vaio VGN-FS415M CPU Fan with full-time jobs increasing slightly, and part-time occupations decreasing in turn. The increase in the working population percentage is attributed to increasing wages and higher costs of living moving more people into employment.^[42] The low unemployment also had some disadvantages, with many companies unable to fill jobs. HP Pavilion dv6-3109ca CPU Fan From 2008, mainly as a result of the global financial crisis, unemployment numbers began to rise, with job losses especially high amongst women.^[43] In the last quarter of 2012, the unemployment rate fell to 6.9% from a 13-year high. This now makes New Zealand the 14th lowest among developed nations, below Canada's 7.2% and above Israel's 6.7%.HP Pavilion dv9547cl CPU Fan As of 2010, New Zealand had the second-lowest personal tax burden in the OECD, once all compulsory effects (such as superannuation and other mandatory deductions) were included in the tax-take. Only Mexico's citizens had a higher percentage-wise "take home" proportion of their salaries.^[45] There is an ongoing political debate between left- and right-leaning political parties as to whether further lowering taxes is appropriate. HP G42-380LA CPU Fan One of the most contentious questions is whether to adjust the relative tax burden of the highest-income earners. New Zealand is the highest-ranked (i.e. least corrupt) country on the Transparency International corruption perceptions index (CPI) of 2011.^[46] However, the validity of this index is disputed by those who investigate such matters. IBM ThinkPad T43P-2668 CPU Fan Adam Feeley, chief executive of the Serious Fraud Office says fraud is widespread in New Zealand and there are fundamental misconceptions about New Zealand's ranking as one of the world's least corrupt countries.^[47] International auditors, PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC), agree. Toshiba Satellite P300 CPU Fan In 2011 PwC conducted a survey on Global Economic Crime which found that 50% of New Zealand organisations (both public and private) had experienced an economic crime in the previous 12 months. This gave New Zealand the 4th highest level of fraud out of the 78 countries surveyed. Australia avoided technical recession due to a number of factors: the country's low levels of public debt allowed government stimulus spending; HP Pavilion dv7-4283cl CPU Fan its proximity to the booming Chinese economy and the related mining boom kept growth ticking over throughout the worst of the global conditions. In fact, sources such as the IMF and theReserve Bank of Australia had predicted Australia was well positioned to weather the crisis with minimal disruption, sustaining more than 2% GDP growth in 2009 (as many Western nations went into recession). HP COMPAQ 2510P Series CPU Fan In the same year the World Economic Forum ranked Australia's banking system the fourth best in the world, while the Australian dollar's 30% drop was seen as a boon for trade, shielding the country from the crisis and helping to slow growth and consumption.^[1][2] Some analysts had predicted the continuing decline of trade in 2009 could put the economy into recession for the first time in 17 years.^[3HP Pavilion dv6-3126ea CPU Fan ^] However these initial fears were proved largely unfounded as the Australian economy avoided recession and the unemployment rate peaked at a much lower rate than had been predicted. New Zealand Institute of Economic Research's quarterly survey showing New Zealand's economy contracted 0.3 percent in the first quarter of 2008 and Treasury figures suggested the economy also contracted in the June quarter putting New Zealand in a technical recession.^[4IBM 41W5269 CPU Fan ^] The Treasury says the economy could recover in the second half of the year under the impact of high dairy prices boosting farmer incomes and cuts to personal tax rates, which come into effect on Oct. 1.^[5] About 23 financial companies in New Zealand have filed for bankruptcy in a year. Housing starts in New Zealand fell 20 percent in June, the lowest levels since 1986.^[6] Compaq Presario CQ60-615DX CPU Fan Excluding apartments, approvals dropped 13 percent from May. Approvals in the year ended June fell 12 percent from a year earlier. Second-quarter approvals dropped 19 percent. The figures suggest a decrease in construction and economic growth. House sales fell 42 percent in June from a year earlier.^[7] HP Pavilion dv6-2057eo CPU Fan The New Zealand Treasury concluded that the country's economy had contracted for a second quarter based on economic indicators, putting New Zealand in a recession.^[8] New Zealand's central bank cut rates by half a percent arguing the economy was in recession.^[9] New Zealand's GDP declined by 0.2 percent in the second quarter putting the country in its first recession in a decade.^[10] HP Pavilion dv7-1135nr CPU Fan The economy emerged from recession in mid-2009, with the second-quarter GDP report showing the economy grew by 0.1 per cent on the March quarter. The table below display all national recessions appearing in 2006-2013 (for the 71 countries with available data), according to the European recession definition, IBM ThinkPad T43P-2668 CPU Fan saying that a recession occurred whenever seasonally adjusted real GDP contracts quarter on quarter, through minimum two consecutive quarters. Only 11 out of the 71 listed countries with quarterly GDP data (Poland, Slovakia, Moldova, India, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Australia, Uruguay, Colombia and Bolivia) escaped a recession in this time period. Toshiba Satellite A100-02M CPU Fan The few recessions appearing early in 2006-07 are commonly never associated to be part of the Great Recession, which is illustrated by the fact that only two countries (Iceland and Jamaica) were in recession in Q4-2007. One year before the maximum, in Q1-2008, only six countries were in recession (Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Portugal and New Zealand). ACER Aspire 5730Z Series CPU Fan The number of countries in recession was 25 in Q2‑2008, 39 in Q3‑2008 and 53 in Q4‑2008. At the steepest part of the Great Recession in Q1‑2009, a total of 59 out of 71 countries were simultaneously in recession. The number of countries in recession was 37 in Q2‑2009, 13 in Q3‑2009 and 11 in Q4‑2009. One year after the maximum, in Q1‑2010, only seven countries were in recession (Greece, Croatia, Romania, Iceland, Jamaica, Venezuela and Belize).  Toshiba Satellite P300-1FN CPU Fan The recession data for the overall G20-zone (representing 85% of all GWP), depict that the Great Recession existed as a global recession throughout Q3‑2008 until Q1‑2009. Subsequent follow-up recessions in 2010‑2013 were confined to Belize, El Salvador, Paraguay, Jamaica, Japan, Taiwan, New Zealand and 24 out of 50 European countries(including Greece).  HP G42-415DX CPU Fan As of October 2013, only seven out of the 71 countries with available quarterly data (Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Belize and El Salvador), were still in ongoing recessions.^[12][13] The many follow-up recessions hitting the European countries, are commonly referred to as being direct repercussions of the European sovereign‑debt crisis.  HP Pavilion dv7-4177nr CPU Fan Corruption manifests in different arenas of life in different ways, and can affect the corporate sector, public sector, individual politicians, political parties and governments. Transparency International generally defines corruption as "the abuse of entrusted power for private gain"^[1] usually through bribery or kickbacks. HP 580718-001 CPU Fan A broader definition of corruption encompasses undue influence over public policies, institutions, laws and regulations by vested private interests at the expense of the public interest.^[2] Corruption is often associated with fraud, which generally involves the deceitful use of documents or information for financial gain.  ACER Aspire One A110-1834 CPU Fan However, fraud can occur at any level of an organisation and does not necessarily require the abuse of power. Transparency International uses a Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) to compare levels of economic crime in different countries and has consistently ranked New Zealand as one of the least corrupt countries in the world.  Dell Vostro 3450 CPU Fan However the rankings are primarily based on opinion surveys rather than empirical evidence – and Transparency acknowledges that corruption is "to a great extent a hidden activity that is difficult to measure".^[3] Notwithstanding the subjectivity of its corruption scale, it has ranked New Zealand as one of the least corrupt out of 183 countries since 2003. SONY Vaio VPC-EB4X1E/BQ CPU Fan Staff at the Serious Fraud Office work at the corporate coalface and see how fraud and corruption manifest in New Zealand. In the past 12 months, the SFO has successfully pursued charges or convictions against eight finance companies and targeted $2.2 billion worth of fraud. They achieved a 100% conviction rate.^[5] HP 646578-001 CPU Fan Based on his experience, SFO chief Adam Feeley says: “Crime, fraud, corruption, call it what you will, is a growing part of organisational reality. We are socially, ethnically and financially – in terms of rich and poor in our society – a very different country than we were a few years ago and, particularly since the global financial crisis.”^[6] HP Pavilion tx2510us CPU Fan Feeley believes that most company boards ignore what he sees as a growing problem in New Zealand in the mistaken belief that their internal auditing processes will deal with it. In reality, internal audits pick up only 2% of fraud cases in New Zealand^[7] and, in the past five years, were unable to prevent 13 cases of staff theft at Work and Income totalling more than $180,000.^[8]  ACER Aspire 7112WSMi CPU Fan Adam Feeley points out that only 44% of the top 50 NZX companies even have formal policies prohibiting bribery. By comparison, in Britain 72% of the top 100 companies have such policies. In Europe the figure is 57% and in the US 69%. Only 16% of NZX companies have a code of ethics that is rated 'Advanced' by Corporate Analysis Enhanced Responsibility (CAER), the Australia-based centre for ethical research. Toshiba GDM610000277 CPU Fan Feeley says there are fundamental misconceptions about New Zealand's ranking as one of the world's least corrupt countries. And that 'incorrect' perception is part of the reason directors feel so smug about resisting formalised anti-corruption and values-based corporate policies.^[6] He dismisses the significance of Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index that ranks New Zealand as the world's least corrupt nation.  HP Pavilion dv7-6107tx CPU Fan “All that survey tells us is how people feel about life here. How they feel and what is actually happening are quite different things. The CPI is nothing more than a perception.” Feeley points to the results of a more recent survey conducted by the SFO which found only 37% of New Zealanders think we are 'largely free' of serious fraud and corruption. And 60% think those who commit financial crime are not held to account.^[6] Dell Vostro 3350 CPU Fan Nick Paterson, general manager of the fraud and corruption unit at the Serious Fraud Office, also believes there is a gap between New Zealanders perceptions of corruption and the reality. Paterson says there is a particular potential for corruption around tender processes and general procurement of services – citing the case of sacked Accident Compensation Corporation property manager Malcolm David Mason. Dell Vostro 3450 CPU Fan The SFO began an investigation into Mason when former ACC Minister Nick Smith questioned a lease ACC signed for a new office in Nelson costing $346,320 a year – two and half times more than what the corporation was previously paying. Mason subsequently pleaded guilty to three charges of bribery and corruption after admitting he took a bribe of $160,000, and a $9000 Singapore holiday for disclosing confidential government information to a businessman who profited from it.^[9] TOSHIBA Mini NB 300 Series Keyboard One of the difficulties in measuring the extent of procurement bribery is in defining what behaviour crosses the line – especially in the private sector. In the public sector there are usually guidelines and codes of conduct. Paterson says: "It's where you draw that line and it varies from organisation to organisation in the private sector... In the public sector there is zero tolerance and taking it to prosecution is required."^[10] SONY VGN-FE28H Keyboard Although fraud cases generally go to court, Paterson says there has been a lack of bribery and corruption cases before the courts, and thinks that may be because the issue has not been taken seriously. He points out that New Zealand is a party to the OECD's Anti-Bribery Convention – but an OECD review in 2010 noted we had no nominated lead agency to head the battle against corruption and bribery. DELL Latitude E5500 Keyboard In 2009 PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) conducted a survey on Global Economic Crime. It revealed that "42% of New Zealand organisations (public and private) have suffered from an economic crime in the previous 12 months, with an average loss of almost $492,000."^[11] In 2011, another PwC survey found the figure had risen to almost 50%.^[12] HP Pavilion dv5-1104tu Keyboard PwC says this is a particularly high proportion and is significantly above the global average of 34%.^[13] It gives New Zealand the fourth highest level of fraud out of the 78 countries surveyed. In 2011, 4% of New Zealanders also admitted to paying a bribe – which is twice as high as the rate in Australia and four times the United Kingdom's rate.^[14] TOSHIBA Equium A100 Series Keyboard Accountancy firm Deloittes is more concerned about the potential for fraud for the growing number of New Zealand and Australian companies with offshore operations. It notes that in 1970, nearly all of New Zealand's export trade was with countries like the UK, US and Australia all of which have low levels of corruption. SONY VAIO VGN-AR570 Keyboard However in 2011, less than 50% of trade went to these countries, as more and more goes to countries with high levels of corruption in both business and government.^[15] In 2012 Deloittes conducted a Bribery and Corruption Survey which found almost half of organisations with offshore operations have never conducted a corruption risk assessment and that 80% do not regard foreign bribery and corruption as a significant risk to their business.^[1DELL Vostro 3350 Keyboard ^6] It concluded that exposure to bribery and corruption is on the rise in New Zealand but the risks are not being addressed.^[17] Barry Jordan, head of the forensics team at Deloitte has never bought into the idea that New Zealand is free of corruption. ACER Aspire 7736ZG Keyboard He says many corporations are reluctant to report fraud or corruption for fear of damaging their brand and private sector cases often never make it into the media because such cases are settled internally. In 2011 the Auditor General released the results of its own survey on fraud awareness in New Zealand's public sector. TOSHIBA NSK-TBD01 Keyboard The survey confirmed a low level of fraud within the public sector, but nevertheless, the OAG acknowledges that "fraud is a fact of business life in New Zealand"^[18] and that there had been "an unprecedented number of high profile requests for (the OAG) to inquire into" in 2011/12.^[19] The Auditor General also found that the larger the organisation, the more likely fraud was to occur. HP 9J.N0Y82.H01 Keyboard For government entities with more than 2,000 staff, 61% of respondents were aware of at least one incident of fraud at their organisation in the preceding 12 months.^[20] In addition to an increase in fraud, the OAG's Annual Report for 2011 rated almost half of central government entities as "needing to improve" their management of information and controls.^[21] HP 517865-031 Keyboard This appears to relate to the high number of confidential information breaches by Government departments in 2012.^[22] ACC sent out 7,000 confidential files to Bronwyn Pullar^[23] and computer systems at Work and Income were found to be open to anyone using their public kiosks.^[24]  Lenovo 0A62039 Keyboard An independent report highlighted the risk with the kiosks in April 2011 and a beneficiary advocate had twice raised concerns. The warnings were ignored and Social Development Minister Paula Bennett acknowledged the privacy breach had exposed "atrocious" practices and that the ministry "woefully underestimated" the risk of hacking.^[25] DELL Vostro A860 Keyboard Although information breaches do not automatically lead to fraud or corruption, they have the potential to. They demonstrate poor governance, inadequate protocols and undermine confidence in the institution of government^[26] – as does corruption. State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie has formally asked the Government chief information officer Colin McDonald to carry out an urgent review of publicly accessible systems operated by State Services. HP Pavilion DV3000 Keyboard Given these differing views, the extent of corrupt practice in New Zealand is not entirely clear – even in the public sector. One especially blurred case involves the Corrections Department. In 2010 the Dominion Post reported that the Department failed to disclose to Parliament a huge contract it gave to one company by claiming that the company provides services and maintenance but "the contract is not to a contractor".^[2ACER Aspire One D150-1920 Keyboard That company was Honeywell – a multinational technology and security firm which Corrections used to install cell phone blocking technology. Originally budgeted at $6 million, the cost of the service blew out to $11 million. Several former Honeywell employees work for Corrections, manage Corrections' contract with Honeywell and even approve payments to Honeywell. HP G42-415DX Keyboard The Dominion Post said the undisclosed contract was among hundreds of contracts worth tens of millions of dollars which Corrections has with consultants and contractors that were never tendered.^[27] The editor of the Dominion Post was sufficiently concerned about the dubious nature of Corrections contracting arrangements to suggest there should be an independent inquiry.^[2SONY VAIO PCG-FRV25 Keyboard A few questions were raised in Parliament about the Corrections Department's procurement processes but no inquiry was held. A much clearer case was that of former Auditor General and ACC boss, Jeff Chapman, who in 1997 was convicted of 10 charges of fraudulently using documents totalling $54,594. DELL Inspiron M5030 Keyboard