Who do Kiwis trust?

Last updated 09:01 23/06/2009
WILLIE APIATA STD
ANDREW GORRIE/The Dominion Post
TRUSTED: Victoria Cross recipient Willie Apiata is among the people who head up the 2009 Reader's Digest New Zealand's Most Trusted survey.

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Winning a medal appears to be a key factor in gaining New Zealanders' trust, a new survey suggests.

The top spots in the 2009 Reader's Digest New Zealand's Most Trusted survey were taken by Victoria Cross recipient Willie Apiata, and Olympic medallists Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell, Barbara Kendall and Peter Snell.

Further down the list - at numbers 10 and 13 respectively - were more Olympic medallists, Valerie Vili and Hamish Carter, while former squash world champion Dame Susan Devoy was fifth.

The survey, in its ninth year, asked 500 adult New Zealanders to rank a list of 85 people in order of whom they trusted most.

Social researcher Jill Caldwell said this year's results showed how New Zealanders valued international recognition.

"Four out of the top five are either gold medallists or world champions. And Willie Apiata has the gold medal for bravery with his Victoria Cross," she said.

"We trust these people because they're hard working and determined and, most importantly, they're humble."

Former All Black and mental health spokesman John Kirwan placed seventh.

The list, which was completed before the David Bain trial, put Bain supporter and former All Black Joe Karam 48th, while Bain himself was number 70.

The All Blacks and Wallabies coaches fared evenly, with Graham Henry just ahead of Robbie Deans at 42 and 43 respectively.

Prime Minister John Key climbed 15 places from 2008 to 53, to sit just behind former Prime Minister Helen Clark, up 14 places from 2008 at 52. Labour leader Phil Goff was 73rd.

The most trusted politician was Invercargill mayor Tim Shadbolt at 46, while Sue Bradford, Sir Roger Douglas and Winston Peters all came in near the tail end in places 81, 82 and 83.

Activist Titewhai Harawira was 84th, while Blue Chip founder Mark Bryers rounded off the list in last place.

- NZPA

 

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16 comments
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Joanne   #16   05:44 pm Jun 23 2009

Chill out everyone, have a laugh, it's funny as

franco   #15   01:08 pm Jun 23 2009

Just goes to show that this is a silly survey and few people know what "trust" means. Obviously, most people should trust their family and friends before trusting any complete stranger. We seem to think we trust people just becuase they are on TV or have done something we can relate to, like sports. Remember Brent Todd, Hugh McGahan and Doug Rollerson were all sportspeople...

Johnny   #14   12:19 pm Jun 23 2009

Susan Devoy at number 5 is surprising after her cart wheel over Tony Veitch when she gave him a reference and then she did'nt want to.

Julian   #13   12:07 pm Jun 23 2009

What's so special about winning a medal?

Andrew   #12   12:04 pm Jun 23 2009

Wow! This make sense. I think I give an Olympic medallist my Eftpos and Credit Card.......as well as the pin numbers.

Jeremy   #11   11:13 am Jun 23 2009

If you perform an inane survey you'll get results like this. Does Social researcher Jill Caldwell have any real credentials or does she just comment on meaningless head line grabbing surveys?

Rachel   #10   10:52 am Jun 23 2009

I found it hillarious (and entirely appropriate) that contraversial TV presenter Paul Henry scored higher on the trust list than Police Commissioner Howard Broad.

siaosi tofi   #9   10:15 am Jun 23 2009

I would trust Tariana Turia. She is a quite dignified woman of integrity in spite of media representation over the years. She would rather exit Labour party than sell out on the Forshore Seabed legislation. Also I would rank Titewhai Harawira ahead of most politicians. She does not mince words, or mislead. Whatever she thinks or believes she declares to the world, there is no deception, hiding or smoke machines which cannot be said for most politicians.

What about the great Colin Meads? He'd be in my top 10 of popular NZ figures along with Corporal Willie Apiata.

Dark Angel   #8   10:13 am Jun 23 2009

This serves only to demonstrate nothing more than warped values of our society. While some of the people mentioned are indeed of good character, achieving public notoriety is not an indicator that a person necessarily possesses good social and moral values. In fact there are many good examples of our leading citizens, especially sports personalities, who can not conduct themselves appropriately or conduct there lives to any form of moral or ethical code of conduct.

J D   #7   10:01 am Jun 23 2009

Surely Bailey Kurariki is meant for this list?


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