Dear all,
It's been a fascinating week for those who care about transparency in New Zealand politics - and in the media. PR consultants have lost their columns, one major party has promised to start publishing ministerial diaries, and there's been a big - and legitimate - fuss about the revolving door between government and business.
This week I take a look at the Green Party's welcome plans to enhance integrity and openness in politics, although I also argue that they don't go far enough.
Separately I examine the questions that have been asked about the conflicts of interests of some media commentators, and conclude that more transparency for writers is going to be needed in future.
What all this represents is the bubbling to the surface of long-held concerns about the slow erosion of certain kinds of integrity and openness in our politics and media. While New Zealand continues to rank highly in international surveys, there are many problems not picked up there, or which threaten to get worse in coming years. Action is well overdue - and may be coming.
Regards,
Max Rashbrooke
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