Video transcript: Karen MacKenzie
Title: Audit New Zealand logo
[Lotto machine, balls, and the Lotto television studio.]
Karen MacKenzie (Audit Director):
I’m here tonight because I’m the official scrutineer for the Lotto draw. The Auditor-General has a wider role than just auditing the financial statements and performance information of Lotto New Zealand, and that’s because under the Gambling Act the Auditor-General is required to provide scrutiny over the drawing of lotteries in New Zealand. [Lotto staff setting up and testing machines.] And as the representative of the Auditor-General, we do that work on her behalf. As part of that role we do all sorts of things. We check to make sure that the balls haven’t been tampered with, we check things like the machines are balanced, we check that the correct numbers are entered into the gaming system after the draw because they generate the prize pay-outs. [Balls in Lotto machine.]
The work that Audit New Zealand does is really important because taxpayers and ratepayers want to have confidence in the information that’s being reported by public sector organisations. They want to know that what they’ve used their funds for and what they’ve achieved has actually been fairly reported in the information that they’re presenting to taxpayers and ratepayers.
Well there’s lots of really great reasons for working for Audit New Zealand. As well as the variety of the organisations that we work with, there’s also a really fantastic bunch of people that you work with as well, and there’s other professionals who share the same values as you, which I think is really important.
One of the other great things is that we really do have an impact in the public sector, particularly from the reporting that we do, and that’s really rewarding and really satisfying when you can actually see the impact you’re having in improving the public sector. You’re working with organisations that touch all of our everyday lives really – the councils that provide the water that we drink and the roads that we drive on. So they’re the sorts of organisations that we’ve all had something to do with, we can all relate to, because they touch our everyday lives, so that makes it really exciting.
For me personally, also I’ve found the flexibility really fantastic. I’ve been able to work part-time over the years while my children have been growing up and that’s really important to me, and Audit New Zealand has given me that flexibility.
Title: Great Job Better Future. For more information, please visit our website: www.auditnz.govt.nz