We trust sportspeople - but not our neighbours

What do Destiny Church bishop Brian Tamaki and Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia - or all politicians, for that matter - have in common with car salespeople, credit card companies and your boss?

They cannot be trusted, according to the Reader's Digest 2006 Trust Survey.

The types we do trust are sportspeople, who claimed nine of the top 10 individual spots, and firefighters, who topped the list of most trusted professions.

Sir Edmund Hillary was the "most trusted individual" for the survey, which asked 500 adult New Zealanders to rank individuals, brands, professions and relationships.

According to surveyors, the higher-ranked - Sarah Ulmer (2), Peter Snell (4), Margaret Mahy (7) - all have humility, while those at the lower end are perceived as being motivated by self-interest.

And in line with politicians being the least-trusted profession, four party leaders featured in the bottom six individual spots - Tariana Turia, Act's Rodney Hide, New Zealand First's Winston Peters and National's Don Brash.

They all have Destiny's Bishop Brian Tamaki to thank for saving them from the bottom rank (75).

"We have the perception that religion should be low-key - the traditional imagery that Jesus lived among the poor," Harry Mills, an expert in leadership and persuasion, told Reader's Digest.

"Yet the publicity that surrounds Tamaki is that he is rich, lives in a flash home and drives big cars. He's not perceived as being authentic - he operates more like a business than a church."

Bishop Tamaki declined to comment on his placing.

Car salespeople and telemarketers - a new entrant this year - and psychics all featured with politicians as distrusted professions.

Although the survey found your partner, best friends and children to be the people you most trust, it suggested you should not put your life in the hands of your boss or your neighbours.

In the consumer brands category, Cadbury, a household name for more than 80 years, again came first, followed by Tip Top, Fisher & Paykel, Panadol and Sanitarium.

Credit-card companies American Express and Diners Club were the two least trusted of the 103 brands surveyed. Other high-profile brands were McDonald's (90), Telecom (73 equal) and Coca-Cola (31 equal).

It seems the traits that New Zealanders find trustworthy are not the same as across the Tasman, where the top 10 individuals places were dominated by those in the medical profession.

Sporting heroes did not even feature in the top 10, and controversial cricketer Shane Warne found himself second from the bottom.