Thursday, December 04, 2014

National's big achievement

We're no longer the least corrupt nation in the world:
New Zealand has fallen from its top spot as the world's least corrupt country being pushed out by Scandinavian nation Denmark.

In the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index released today New Zealand was ranked the second least corrupt out of 174 countries.

The index which compiled by Transparency International, ranks countries based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be.


Our actual score hasn't dropped (yet); instead we've been overtaken by Denmark because we haven't kept up with international efforts to combat corruption. But as Bryce Edwards points out, the survey data all predates July 2014 and the pre-election corruption scandals (including Dirty Politics). So, we may be in for an actual drop next year, rather than just being overtaken.

But regardless of the reason, no longer being "the least corrupt nation in the world" is a blow to our national identity, and one National should be held accountable for.