Search

Until recently, a historical conviction for a homosexual offence remained on an individual's criminal record until expungement legislation was enacted to facilitate such convictions to be spent. An analysis of parliamentary debates in New Zealand/Aotearoa and across Australia highlights the aim and opinions of lawmakers in their desire to bring about a therapeutic remedy to address the 'criminal stain' of a conviction for a historical homosexual offence. Along with the aim to remedy the effect of a conviction, parliaments used the law reform debate as a broader therapeutic project of inclusiveness for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) communities. The success of expungement is evidenced by the passing of legislation, with most applications to expunge granted. These positive outcomes are countered by a low number of applications to expunge, a refusal by all governments to provide reparations and the use of expungement legislation to garner favour with all members of LGBTIQ communities--a move open to an accusation of government virtue signalling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The public sector provides open data to create new opportunities, stimulate innovation, and implement new solutions that benefit academia and society. However, open data is usually available in large quantities and often lacks quality, accuracy, and completeness. It may be difficult to find the right data to analyze a target. There are many rich open data repositories, but they are difficult to understand and use because these data can only be used with a complex set of keyword search options, and even then, irrelevant or insufficient data may eventually be retrieved. To alleviate this situation, ontology-based semantic search has been proven to be an effective way to improve the quality of related content queries in such repositories. In this paper, we propose a new method of semantic linking and storing open government datasets of New Zealand's agriculture, land and rainfall sectors based on the use of ontology. The generated ontology can construct integrated data, in which a unified query can be applied to extract richer and more useful information. To validate our model, we showed how to link ontology manually and automatically. Manual linking requires domain experts, and automatic linking reduces the overhead of relying on domain experts to manually link concepts. The results of this method are promising in terms of improving data quality and search efficiency. In future, the proposed model can be integrated with other domain ontologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the protected disclosures framework of the intelligence community in New Zealand. Topics discussed include the inspector-general of Intelligence and Security's oversight of the New Zealand including the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service and the Government Communications Security Bureau, the intelligence communities' commitment to transparency, and whistleblowing under the Protected Disclosures Act of 2002.

In this article we use Foucault's conception of games of truth to investigate how truth in public policy is rhetorically constructed through the notion of "transparency." Data was collected from various public sources regarding a medal target policy promoted by Sport and Recreation New Zealand (Sparc) for the national team at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. By analyzing the multifarious rhetoric surrounding the medal target policy, we show that the notion of transparency, although ostensibly appealing and helpful as a mechanism to justify goals, exposes inherent contradictions that were counter to Sparc's goals. The discussion encourages scholars and practitioners to conceive of policy as ongoing contests over truth. We suggest that practitioners might benefit from considering the problematic implications of promoting "transparent" public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a widely-held assumption that democracies give too much weight to short-term interests at the expense of long-term interests. This phenomenon is variously referred to as political myopia, policy short-termism and a presentist bias. This article briefly explores the nature and causes of such a bias and examines the kinds of policy issues where long-term interests are most likely to be at risk. On the basis of this analysis, the article outlines a package of policy reforms designed to counter the presentist bias. While the suggested reforms are specifically focused on New Zealand, many are equally applicable to other democratic jurisdictions. The proposed reforms include: a longer, fixed parliamentary term; using policy commitment devices to embed the future more deeply within our democratic institutions and policy processes; enhancing the political system's capacity for foresight; strengthening institutional voices for the future, including the stewardship responsibilities of the public service; embedding the future more firmly within analytical frameworks; and nurturing a future-focused political culture that facilitates durable political bargains on important intergenerational issues. There is no suggestion that such reforms would eliminate the presentist bias, but they would help incentivise policymakers to give greater weight to future-orientated interests and encourage the exercise of good stewardship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two recent cases, one from New Zealand and the other from the UK, highlight issues relating to the intersection between company law and securities law. In one, the directors attempted to defend alleged breaches of the statutory duty to make full prospectus disclosure by asserting that they were acting in the best interests of the company. In the other, the directors' actions of disenfranchising certain shareholders in the course of attempting to secure transparency in share ownership were challenged as being for an improper purpose. This article argues that both courts would have been assisted by giving fuller consideration and weight to the principles of securities law that underlie the disclosure and transparency rules, and using those principles to guide their decisions on company law issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In mid-October 2014, ten years after the New Zealand Government confirmed the establishment of a Combined Threat Assessment Group (CTAG) to advise it on a range of potential threats, the prime minister announced, for the first time, the raising of New Zealand's domestic terrorism threat level. Unfortunately, the assessment that gave rise to the threat level's change (or a version of it) was not made public. Therefore, how were New Zealanders or others expected to properly understand the environment giving rise to the threat changes, and to judge whether the assessors got the setting right. This paper argues increased public transparency is appropriate when additional security measures resulting from a change in threat perception impact citizens' lives and cost taxpayers more money. In presenting this argument, the paper briefly describes the role of threat assessments and how threat levels are set. In the absence of a public version of New Zealand's threat assessment giving a cohesive, concise and transparent outline of the threat environment, the paper presents publicly available information from well-informed high office holders to see if that provides alternative and suitable transparency. Finally, the paper compares New Zealand's terrorism threat assessment transparency processes with those of four countries with similar characteristics to New Zealand to see if alternative models of public transparency are available for consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the participation of New Zealand in the Open Government Partnership (OG) for transparency, integrity and public safety in November 2013. Topics covered include national partnerships with civil society groups, international partnerships on best practices, and the Better Public Services programme for government accountability.

The article discusses the 2012 National Integrity System (NIS) assessment by the 2012 Transparency International New Zealand (TINZ). Topics covered include the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) of Transparency International (TI), the Public Service Act of 1912, and New Zealander founder of TI Jeremy Pope. It also mentions the assessment as the evaluation of the principal governance system.

The impact the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has on business has been considered by various authors, such as Jones and Higgins (2006). However, there has not been the same research conducted with respect to local government. As Australia and New Zealand are leading the world by being the first to introduce IFRS into local government financial reporting, this study is timely in order todetermine the impact of compliance on local government. With the New Public Management (NPM) introduced in the late 1970s, accrual accounting and the desire to enhance transparency became embedded in financial reporting across the world. The paper adds to the growing literature on institutional theory with results of the study suggesting that a form of coercive isomorphism is present in regards to local government compliance with IFRS. It also suggests that the philosophy behind NPM - especially that espousing the benefits of public sector reporting in a private sector vein-may not be as relevant to Australian local government as the policy makers would have us believe. The thrust to implement IFRS may have finally pushed local government into a world they struggle to cope with. For example, findings indicate that there is now, more than ever, a perception in the community that the bottom line is an important indicator of a council's performance. Results reported here determined that the implementation process was time-consuming and costly with, in general, very little perceived benefit. Councils are conforming to the coercive pressure from legislative bodies, but they are not converging as part of the 'transaction-neutral' reporting regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the local government reform and reform efforts in New Zealand government. It mentions the changes in government structures, and the changes in the processes and powers in the functions of local governments in Auckland. It also states that changes and improvements in the transparency, responsiveness, and accountability in the local governments of New Zealand.

This article examines the impact of Britain's Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 on British central government. The article identifies six objectives for FOI in the United Kingdom and then examines to what extent FOI has met them, briefly comparing the United Kingdom with similar legislation in Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. It concludes that FOI has achieved the core objectives of increasing transparency and accountability, though the latter only in particular circumstances, but not the four secondary objectives: improved decision-making by government, improved public understanding, increased participation, and trust in government. This is not because the Act has 'failed' but because the objectives were overly ambitious and FOI is shaped by the political environment in which it is placed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1973 Canada instituted a land claims negotiation policy. Records reveal that the government felt reasonably confident that Indian bands, on average, represented defined political actors with whom the federal government could engage in a negotiation policy. By contrast, New Zealand's Maori claims negotiation policy was soon challenged by the cabinet's lack of confidence in key aspects of the average Maori negotiating party. New Zealand's policy response was to require Maori claimants to engage in a group certification process as a precursor to negotiation. Why did one government feel that indigenous claimants were transparent, while the other did not? Through an analysis building on James Scott's concept of legibility, I examine historical processes of group formalization which led to different average indigenous claimant legibility in Canada and New Zealand. My analysis shows that negotiation policies can be considered an important contemporary process which has important implications for indigenous group life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explains the structures and rules built into the New Zealand government's financial management system which encourage entry into commitments such as public private partnerships. That the system provides a means of escape from the tight constraints imposed by fiscal targets, and escapes public and parliamentary scrutiny in the process, seems at odds with espoused objectives of fiscal responsibility, debt reduction and transparency. In terms of furthering a privatization agenda, however, it is highly logical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Social & Economic Studies is the property of University of the West Indies - Mona and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article looks at cultural differences related to ethical governance in various countries as ranked on the Transparency International 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index, noting that New Zealand was a top-rated country. The challenges facing New Zealand companies in conducting business in low-ranked Asian nations such as China, India, and Indonesia are noted. Topics include international law, the links between poverty and corruption, and the cultural focus on fairness in New Zealand.