On Wednesday evening, the night before examining Murray McCully over the MFAT estimates at select committee, I received the answers to my raft of questions. There is one Annex of which people should avail themselves. It is the spreadsheet of consultants and contractors and is accessible here. Have a look and see for yourself. Page 39 for starters, but there is plenty of interesting reading there.
One name stood out for me – Charles Finny, formerly of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, now of Saunders Unsworth. Paid $54,135 for work done between 1 November and 24 December 2010. Nice pay rate for 2 months’ work! I’m sure he wouldn’t have had any sick days – oh, that’s right, he’s a bloke. No uterus, no sick days.
Charles Finny’s contract was not put out for tender. Why not? At a rate of $27,000 a month, you’d think that might be tendered. McCully wasn’t aware of the details, he said, but knew Finny had the requisite skills. There are lots more questions to ask here – like, at what threshold does a requirement to tender kick in, etc., etc. McCully had given another gift to one of his mates.
Add that to: $75k contract to former Nat MP, Mark Blumsky for development work in Niue (requisite skills – the man used to be a shoe salesman?); current Nat MP Allan Peachey being made Special Envoy with the permission of the PM no less, to go round the Pacific and talk about education (is that what he was elected by the good people of Tamaki to do?); current Nat MP John Hayes, appointed to chair a committee which disburses money to aid NGOs (a committee he might have to interrogate as Chair of the Foreign Affairs select committee?).
These men might all be good blokes, but how would anyone know? They haven’t been subjected to any form of competition. I thought the Nats liked competition. Nope? They just like extra perks and income. This is taxpayers’ money, not McCully’s personal slush fund.
“I’m sure he wouldn’t have had any sick days – oh, that’s right, he’s a bloke. No uterus, no sick days.”
Irrelevant. As a contractor, he would have been paid for the time he worked (in this case paid obscenely for what one assumes is work), same as all contractors regardless of sex.
looks like a slush fund to me!
What do we expect, thats how the free market works, ooops, I mean free money for very little work.
Just to make it clear Peachey is not being paid (other than as an MP) for this extra role.
Maryan
I trust you are not associating me in anyway with those absurd comments made by Thompson? That would be really unfair. I may be a bloke, but that is about as close an association as you could find between me and that guy on this subject! I suspect your views and mine are pretty aligned on that sick leave issue (as they are on many others).
Have a nice weekend.
Charles
@Charles Finny – you are quite right. I am not associating you with Alasdair Thompson’s ludicrous and ultimately self-destructive comments. It was just too hard to resist a comment on what was top of everyone’s mind yesterday. I do not see you as being of that ilk at all. You are much more enlightened than that. Cheers.
@fizzleplug – quite right about contractors. They don’t get sick leave. They get paid for the hours they work. I wonder how many women contractors there are?
almost a week late in replying to this, but Maryan, as an accountant, I see more women contracting than I do men. A number of these women contract to government as well (I live and work in Wellington).
Not scientific at all, but anecdotal evidence never is.
Hi Maryan, do you have any evidence that McCully personally chose these people over and above his department? The contractors list is very long, I doubt McCully chose the security contractors in Apia, or are you just cherry picking contractors you don’t like because of their political persuasions? Should only people you like because of their politics get government contracts?
I hope you’re not bullying people because of their political views and saying they shouldn’t get government contracts Maryan because that would be creepy.