As stuff.co.nz reports:

Tax haven activist Nicholas Shaxson has hit out at New Zealand for opposing a plan to create a UN body to tackle tax haven abuse.

Shaxson, who has become famous following the publication of Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men Who Stole the World, said New Zealand is letting down the developing world.

He has also revealed that New Zealand has a growing reputation as an offshore haven itself. He predicts New Zealand will appear on the Tax Justice Network’s Financial Secrecy Index by 2013.

In January, New Zealand’s permanent mission to the UN in New York said it did not support the creation of a new intergovernmental body or upgrading existing structures noting the creation would have “resource implications”.

Nick is right:

1. New Zealand is a tax haven;
2. The resources referred to are those looted from developing countries through New Zealand trust structures.

New Zealand likes to play all innocent on this issue but it’s pretty pernicious.

And opprobrium should follow.

The UN can work to help developing countries on this issue. Tax havens like New Zealand don’t want them to do so.

It’s not coincidence.

It’s a deliberate choice to exploit poverty.

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