New Zealand to show commitment to corruption fight at London summit

New Zealand Police Minister Judith Collins will be showing the country's commitment to fight corruption at an international summit this month after recent falls in a global graft perception index.

Collins said Friday she would represent Prime Minister John Key at the London Anti-Corruption Summit on May 12.

The summit would promote the importance of exposing corruption, punishing those responsible and supporting those who had suffered, and driving out the culture of corruption.

"The summit is an opportunity to promote New Zealand's reputation as one of the least corrupt countries in the world and demonstrate our commitment as a responsible member of the international community," Collins said in a statement.

World leaders from the G20, as well as other nations that faced challenges with corruption would agree a package of practical steps to counter corruption at the summit.

New Zealand had recently taken steps to combat corruption, she said, including passing legislation in November last year that enabled it to ratify the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

In January, New Zealand fell to fourth place out of 168 nations and territories in the 2015 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), the second consecutive drop in a survey it had previously topped seven times.

New Zealand fell behind Denmark in the 2014 CPI and then Sweden and Finland as well in the 2015 survey.

New Zealand would likely fall further if areas such as access to information and governance of the environment failed to keep pace with trends in northern European countries, Transparency International warned. Endit