> I fail to see the relationship between a billionaire getting away with something, and my sense of rule of law. It simply means new Zealand has equal rule of law power to every other first world country

Uh, no. Other 1st world countries enforce their laws. For example, Iceland locked up bankers who broke financial laws leading to a crisis:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-03-31/welcome-t...