British journalist Simon Kuper's provocative new book "Good Chaps: How Corrupt Politicians Broke Our Law and Institutions” offers a devastating diagnosis of how corruption captured British politics.
"The first wake-up call comes from the Ministerial Advisory Group on Organised Crime..."
Wake-up call? Or perhaps merely the latest in a long line of alarm bells this country’s leadership has ignored. The Ardern Government’s legacy, sneaking He Puapua under the radar, ramming Three Waters through under urgency, was a masterclass in undermining trust. And let’s not forget the Maori party, clowns in silly hats who openly defecate on all "rules" of good conduct.
The deeper rot is the collapse of shared moral scaffolding, once reinforced by religion, tradition, and yes, even social pressure. Now we’re left with a vacuum, and the question isn’t just whether laws can replace vanished virtues, but whether our ruling class is even competent enough to draft effective laws whose side effects aren't worse than the disease.
The 'good chaps' regime we had included the rule that you do right for your mates.
Another blueprint to reduce the potential for corruption that is being deliberately ignored by the Minister of Justice is the November 2023 report of the Independent Electoral Commission, in particular its recommendations to limiting political donations.
New Zealand desperately needs a "corruption and crime commission" as found in Australian states. Even Premiers are not exempt and at least one has been jailed. My Australian departmental CEO was stood down for simply having an unlogged phone call with a person whom the Department was prosecuting. I also became aware of major import corruption in Australia by companies also working in NZ, but the New Zealand public service (my employer at the time) was "disinterested" - "we are not a corrupt country, don't upset the mantra". I suspect corruption at Council level in NZ is also highly likely. It would be interesting to look at the data on "fraud" by NZ public servants - I'm sure its rising exponentially.
Britain’s downfall wasn’t lack of intelligence—it was arrogance. The same smug exceptionalism that let Kiwis boast about Transparency International rankings.
As you rightly say, it would be a hard path to begin to change the holes and crannies where corruption gets in. And as James Wilkes observes: "Corruption in New Zealand politics also hides in plain sight with the ‘chumocracy’ actively reinforcing the ‘good chaps’ myth." Our small size makes these enmeshments of appointment and patronage pretty well impenetrable, whether it's the private school old boy networks or the like-minded critical theory-leaning graduates of our universities. Everyone knows, if only by repute, the cosy cabals from which appointments can be made that will not make waves and will reinforce 'right-thinking'. In my blackest moments I'm glad I'm nearing the end of my life and won't see the final collapse that I fear will come. I believe it's too late unless there's a tsunami of cross-party action to combat the creep, and I'm not going to hold my breath for that. But to paraphrase (possibly Edmund Burke), if enough good people can summon up the courage, change may be possible, albeit slow.
What do you make of the electricity generators' payments to Ngai Tahu? And re old-school NZ public servants, Bill Sutch turned out not to be such a good chap after all.
The Imperialist financial elite class have screwed New Zealand via their imposed private bank debt money supply system since the day they got here, as I detail comprehensively in this piece I did:
Where New Zealand Monetary Policy Went Terribly Wrong
Very important at a time when New Zealand again finds itself in economic dire straights and all any political party presently in Parliament can offer is squabbling over tax redistribution, asset sales, or further selling our souls to foreign financiers.
Whatever our individual criticisms about a political party might be re these issues, I suggest it’s distracting at best, to be-labour the ‘particular’. The issues being highlighted are systemic and a multi party approach by good women men and everyone in between is mission critical. A private members bill supported by a member of each party (is that even possible?) and then a commitment to treat it as a ‘conscience vote’ and a move to make it a referendum commitment might focus the attention of politicians -chaps and chapettes, both good and dodgy.
Rhetorically, who would want to be seen voting ‘against’ a ballsed up Transperancy and Anti Corruption Commission?!
Society goes in cycles. At the start of a cycle the assumption that we are all "good chaps" works well enough because it accords with reality. Then corruption creeps in, and we need more rules. As a result the system manages to carry on even with bad chaps in positions of responsibility. But despite the imposition of a new set of rules, systemic moral decline is going to continue. Maybe the rate of decline will be slowed, but that is as much as one can hope for. The remorseless moral degeneration of the colonialist regime in New Zealand won't end until colonialism itself comes to its end.
"The first wake-up call comes from the Ministerial Advisory Group on Organised Crime..."
Wake-up call? Or perhaps merely the latest in a long line of alarm bells this country’s leadership has ignored. The Ardern Government’s legacy, sneaking He Puapua under the radar, ramming Three Waters through under urgency, was a masterclass in undermining trust. And let’s not forget the Maori party, clowns in silly hats who openly defecate on all "rules" of good conduct.
The deeper rot is the collapse of shared moral scaffolding, once reinforced by religion, tradition, and yes, even social pressure. Now we’re left with a vacuum, and the question isn’t just whether laws can replace vanished virtues, but whether our ruling class is even competent enough to draft effective laws whose side effects aren't worse than the disease.
The 'good chaps' regime we had included the rule that you do right for your mates.
Another blueprint to reduce the potential for corruption that is being deliberately ignored by the Minister of Justice is the November 2023 report of the Independent Electoral Commission, in particular its recommendations to limiting political donations.
Corruption in New Zealand politics also hides in plain sight with the ‘chumocracy’ actively reinforcing the ‘good chaps’ myth.
New Zealand desperately needs a "corruption and crime commission" as found in Australian states. Even Premiers are not exempt and at least one has been jailed. My Australian departmental CEO was stood down for simply having an unlogged phone call with a person whom the Department was prosecuting. I also became aware of major import corruption in Australia by companies also working in NZ, but the New Zealand public service (my employer at the time) was "disinterested" - "we are not a corrupt country, don't upset the mantra". I suspect corruption at Council level in NZ is also highly likely. It would be interesting to look at the data on "fraud" by NZ public servants - I'm sure its rising exponentially.
Britain’s downfall wasn’t lack of intelligence—it was arrogance. The same smug exceptionalism that let Kiwis boast about Transparency International rankings.
As you rightly say, it would be a hard path to begin to change the holes and crannies where corruption gets in. And as James Wilkes observes: "Corruption in New Zealand politics also hides in plain sight with the ‘chumocracy’ actively reinforcing the ‘good chaps’ myth." Our small size makes these enmeshments of appointment and patronage pretty well impenetrable, whether it's the private school old boy networks or the like-minded critical theory-leaning graduates of our universities. Everyone knows, if only by repute, the cosy cabals from which appointments can be made that will not make waves and will reinforce 'right-thinking'. In my blackest moments I'm glad I'm nearing the end of my life and won't see the final collapse that I fear will come. I believe it's too late unless there's a tsunami of cross-party action to combat the creep, and I'm not going to hold my breath for that. But to paraphrase (possibly Edmund Burke), if enough good people can summon up the courage, change may be possible, albeit slow.
What do you make of the electricity generators' payments to Ngai Tahu? And re old-school NZ public servants, Bill Sutch turned out not to be such a good chap after all.
The Imperialist financial elite class have screwed New Zealand via their imposed private bank debt money supply system since the day they got here, as I detail comprehensively in this piece I did:
Where New Zealand Monetary Policy Went Terribly Wrong
https://nzglobaleconomicscontext.substack.com/p/where-new-zealand-monetary-policy
Very important at a time when New Zealand again finds itself in economic dire straights and all any political party presently in Parliament can offer is squabbling over tax redistribution, asset sales, or further selling our souls to foreign financiers.
Whatever our individual criticisms about a political party might be re these issues, I suggest it’s distracting at best, to be-labour the ‘particular’. The issues being highlighted are systemic and a multi party approach by good women men and everyone in between is mission critical. A private members bill supported by a member of each party (is that even possible?) and then a commitment to treat it as a ‘conscience vote’ and a move to make it a referendum commitment might focus the attention of politicians -chaps and chapettes, both good and dodgy.
Rhetorically, who would want to be seen voting ‘against’ a ballsed up Transperancy and Anti Corruption Commission?!
Society goes in cycles. At the start of a cycle the assumption that we are all "good chaps" works well enough because it accords with reality. Then corruption creeps in, and we need more rules. As a result the system manages to carry on even with bad chaps in positions of responsibility. But despite the imposition of a new set of rules, systemic moral decline is going to continue. Maybe the rate of decline will be slowed, but that is as much as one can hope for. The remorseless moral degeneration of the colonialist regime in New Zealand won't end until colonialism itself comes to its end.