E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karangarangatanga maha o te motu, tēnā koutou.

If you work in the public sector, it does not matter what your role is or how senior you are. In a small country like ours, there is a good chance you will have a conflict of interest at some point in your working life.

A conflict of interest is where the responsibilities you have as an employee or office holder in a public organisation are affected by some other interest you have in your private life. That other interest could be a relationship, a role in another organisation, or a business interest.

Having a conflict of interest does not necessarily mean you have done anything wrong. If the conflict is handled well, it does not have to be a problem. Conflicts can arise in many situations. Some are serious, some less so, and some are unavoidable. But, in any situation where activities are carried out in the public interest or paid for out of public funds, the public needs to be confident that decisions:

• are made impartially and for the right reasons; and…