While there is no reason to think Faafoi has behaved in this way, it routinely happens overseas. If, while still in post, they spy the prospect of a lucrative corporate afterlife, it is hardly inconceivable that they will start to bias their decisions towards – or at least form overly close relationships with – the firms able to deliver that career. The concerns about the revolving door arise well before ministers leave politics. Former cabinet minister Kris Faafoi speaks to media at parliament. Given it’s a long time since Faafoi did anything except politics, those are presumably people he has met in his capacity as an MP and minister. And the man himself told the Herald earlier this week that in looking to drum up business, he had been “speaking to people I’ve had relationships with in the past”. Dialogue 22’s website makes clear that Faafoi’s former life as a cabinet minister is a core part of its pitch. And if private firms or individuals do get hold of it, they gain a completely inappropriate advantage over their rivals.Īll these values and protections are rendered somewhat irrelevant, however, if Faafoi – or indeed anyone else – can simply step through the revolving door and, taking confidential public information with them, immediately turn it to the benefit of their clients. That information is supposed to be used for the public good, not to advance private interests. With good reason, we do not simply sell information about cabinet debates to the highest bidder. In particular, confidential public information is not supposed to end up in the hands of commercial interests.
But the vast majority of the information surrounding such discussions – the arguments made for and against in cabinet, the motivations and positions of individual ministers, the political realities that determine a given decision – is kept under wraps. Admittedly, elements of cabinet discussions leak, and the government publishes some papers after the fact. And normally that knowledge is held confidential. As a cabinet minister as recently as July, Faafoi will have been privy to the most important political discussions in the land, compiling a treasure trove of information. Why does this matter? Because it highlights a key weakness in New Zealand’s integrity rules. And of course one of his new roles, at lobbying and public relations firm Dialogue 22, will be… spinning. A cabinet minister barely three months ago, and now the country’s newest lobbyist, he has gone through the revolving door between politics and corporate life so fast it must still be spinning. It’s perfectly legal for the former cabinet minister to move straight into a job as a lobbyist.
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