List of our conflicts of interest resources

A list of blog posts, reports, articles, and published letters about the Local Authorities (Members' Interests) Act 1968, non-financial conflicts of interest, or conflicts of interest in general.
UniServices – Management of conflicts of interest

26 October 2023: We wrote to Andy Shenk, the Chief Executive of Auckland UniServices Limited (UniServices) about how UniServices managed conflicts of interest for work it did for a government department in 2020 and 2021.

Local Authorities (Members’ Interests) Act 1968: A guide for members of local authorities on managing financial conflicts of interest

June 2020: The Local Authorities (Members' Interests) Act 1968 (the Act) is somewhat out of date and difficult to understand, and the rules are not always easy to apply in a modern local government context. That is why we have written this plain English guide. We want members who are covered by the Act, and those advising them, to be aware of the Act's rules and the steps they need to take to ensure that they do not inadvertently breach them. This guide also explains our statutory functions under the Act.

Inquiry into procurement of work by Westland District Council at Franz Josef

March 2019: This report concerns a decision of the Westland District Council to carry out work at Franz Josef to protect the town's wastewater treatment plant from flooding. The work was carried out on an urgent basis and resulted in the construction of a new 700-metres-long stopbank on the bank of the Waiho River. In this report, we acknowledge the serious nature of the flood risk the Council was dealing with, and the motivation of the elected members who were driving the decision to act in the community's best interests. However, we have serious concerns about what was done in this case.

Queenstown Lakes District Council: Managing a conflict of interest in a proposed special housing area

October 2015: We found that the chief executive’s involvement did not influence or contribute to any substantive aspects of the Council’s policy for special housing areas. The Mayor and Council took appropriate steps to manage the conflict of interest. The chief executive took no part in recommendations or decisions about special housing areas after declaring his interest. We also found that the conflict affected the chief executive’s ability to advise the Council about special housing areas and provide leadership to council staff in this area.

Inquiry into the West Coast Development Trust

August 2008: The Auditor-General decided in October last year to conduct an inquiry into the operations of the West Coast Development Trust (the Trust), after receiving information on the workings of the Trust, including allegations of conflicts of interest...

Local authority codes of conduct

June 2006: The Local Government Act 2002 created a new legal requirement for each local authority to adopt a code of conduct for its elected members. We examined councils' experiences in developing and using their codes...

Inquiry into certain aspects of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa

December 2005: This audit and inquiry followed a request for assurance from the then Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education). There were concerns about possible conflicts of interest in transactions worth large sums of money. Other issues emerged as we began our inquiry...