Publications produced during 2005

This is a list of the publications produced in 2005 (the most recent items are listed first).
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...

Electricity Commission: Contracting with service providers

July 2005: This report describes events leading up to the decision to appoint contractors, and analyses the practices followed. It also sets out our expectations of public entities involved in sole source procurement in circumstances where contestable procurement is impracticable...

Effectiveness of controls over the taxi industry

June 2005: This audit looked at the Authority’s oversight of taxi organisations, passenger service licence holders, drivers, and course providers. Little progress has been made since our 1997 report. Inconsistent and inadequate monitoring and enforcing has led to widespread non-compliance...

Government and parliamentary publicity and advertising

June 2005: Publicity and advertising are important activities for governments and parliamentary parties, which can legitimately be paid for with public funds. But at the same time such activities are inherently sensitive, and open to the risk of abuse...

Pharmaceutical Management Agency: Changes to the frequency of medicine dispensing

May 2005: In October 2003, Pharmac changed the rules for dispensing medicines. It let doctors prescribe that a 90-day supply of certain medicines be dispensed all at once, rather than spread over 3 visits to the pharmacist. Pharmac projected that this could reduce district health boards’ spending on the dispensing fees paid to pharmacists by $132 million over 5 years. We decided to audit this because of the large savings projected, and the effects of the change on patients, doctors, and pharmacists...