PARLIAMENT | PARTY | GRASSROOTS

Red Alert

Archive for the ‘public services’ Category

Political speed dating

Posted by Trevor Mallard on November 6th, 2011

Not just another candidates’ debate – this is your chance to debate the real issues facing our communities.

Five union/community election forums will be MC’d around New Zealand by some of New Zealand’s favourite funny people, including Michele A’Court, Jeremy Elwood, Darren Ludlow and Ian Harcourt. The forums have been organised by a group of unions and community organisations joining together to bring you a fun, fast and furious evening of political debate.

There’s a serious side to this as well. Candidates will be asked the hard questions on welfare, public services, inequality and more.

Please come along by going to the Facebook event and inviting your friends in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Invercargill to join in too.

The issues: Welfare, inequality and a living wage | public services, health and early childhood education | disabled people’s issues | caring work | ACC

The format: Party spokespeople will have 2 minutes each to answer questions on these topics.

The venues:

West Auckland – Tues 8 November, 7pm. Kelston Community Centre, cnr Great North & Awaroa Rds. MC’d by Jeremy Elwood. Labour candidate – Carmel Sepuloni

Wellington – Wed 9 November, 5.30pm. St John’s on Willis St. MC’d by Ian Harcourt. Labour candidate – Grant Robertson

Invercargill – Wed 9 November, 7pm. Lindisfarne Community Centre. MC’d by Darren Ludlow. Labour candidate – Lesley Soper

Auckland Central – Tues 15 November, 7pm. Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn. MC’d by Michele A’Court. Labour candidate – Jacinda Ardern

Hamilton – Wed 16 November, 5pm. YWCA, 28 Pembroke St. MC’d by Jeremy Elwood. Labour Candidate – Sue Moroney

Filed under: ACC, disabilities, education, health, inequality, public services
9 Comments

Cuts to public services- more misleading from Key

Posted by Grant Robertson on November 2nd, 2011

A very interesting story in the Manawatu Standard today where John Key is accused of misleading the New Zealand public. The accusation does not come from a Labour politician, it comes from a health professional.

A leading injury rehabilitation specialist has lashed out at comments made by Prime Minister John Key, saying he has misled the public over cuts made to the health system. Rehabilitation medicine consultant physician Jurriaan de Groot said he was left outraged at a statement made by Mr Key in a televised leaders debate that only administrative jobs had been cut from the public health service.

This is the mythology that the National Party have tried to create. The fact is that they have no idea whether the jobs that have gone in the core public service or the wider state sector are frontline, back office or any other term. They are just the result of indiscriminate cuts. In this case services delivered for rehabilitation.

Dr de Groot said the slashing of MidCentral District Health Board’s rehabilitative Star Unit from 12 beds to eight, proved Mr Key was “wrong at best, deliberately misleading at worst”. “It certainly wasn’t just administrative services that were cut from there, the hospital lost a valuable resource expertise and they’ll never get it back.”

Throughout the health sector cuts in funding have caused lost services. This was the result of $10 million being taken from a budget. In other places its been mental health or youth health or public health.

I am really glad a medical professional has called out the misleading from the government on the real impact of cuts to services. Many have been scared as to what will happen to them when they speak out. Good on Dr De Groot.

Tags: , ,
Filed under: health, public services
10 Comments

Abandoning the Provinces (again)

Posted by Grant Robertson on September 9th, 2011

The National led government released its latest public service staff statistics yesterday. They show that they have overseen almost 2,400 Kiwis losing their jobs since 2008. That is thousands of families with people who make the money to put food on the table out of work. Things really are starting to follow the 1990s pattern- the gutting of the public sector, followed by the decline in services and confidence from the public, followed by the hiring of consultants and contractors to fill the gaps…

The figures announced today do not cover the full impact most recent jobs losses announced for DOC and the IRD. In both cases its not the people I look after in Wellington Central bearing the brunt, it is the provinces. Wanganui, Rotorua, Napier, Invercargill, Nelson, New Plymouth. Did someone say “frontline services”.

Two stories related to this came my way today. The first from the Daily News in New Plymouth who quoted one of the staff saying that they had been warned that if they talked publicly about the job losses they would go even quicker.

“They told us there was to be absolutely no discussion of anything to the media. If anyone spoke to the media it could be a code of conduct issue,” an employee told the Taranaki Daily News on condition of anonymity. Penalties for breaching the code of conduct could include being sacked, they said.

The worker also said something that will be familiar to many in the public service. He said “morale was in tatters”. It is, in almost every government agency I speak to- and the end result of that is poorer services for us all.

Meanwhile over in Whanganui they are facing the effect of the cuts to the Department of Conservation, the latest in a line of cuts including to NZTA, child advocacy services and the baliffs. I got a note passed on to me from a local teacher who said

I feel awful today as I hear from children I teach that their their families will be shifting out of Wanganui because of the cutbacks and the gutting of the local DOC office.which once served the region from Taranaki to the Manawatu and over the Ruahines. Going are the scientists, an engineer, cartographers and other skilled workers whose children have been really special to teach.

This is one aspect of the abandoning of provinicial New Zealand, the breakdown of communities. Another is the loss of health services in places like Temuka and Rangiora. John Pagani has written a good blog on another aspect of it. The absence of any real focused regional development from this government that will give people a sense that there are jobs and a future for them and their town. I think we owe these towns that have been the backbone of our country some support and some hope.

Tags: , ,
Filed under: Unemployment, conservation, public services, rural
5 Comments

National Putting Kiwis out of Work

Posted by Grant Robertson on August 27th, 2011

When MAF made the announcement of the loss of 241 positions, that will end up putting 144 people out of work, it was a continuation of this government’s policy of putting more than 1500 people out of work in the public service. In my media release I made the point that those put out of work are real people with families and themselves to look out for.

That hit home to me yesterday when the daughter of one of the women who found out she was losing her job visited me in my electorate office yesterday. She was upset. Her mother is in her early 60s, and faces the prospect of trying to find work in an environment where jobs are few and far between especially for someone of her age. She has written a letter to John Key. She asked me if I thought he would actually get to read it. I said I didn’t know, but I want to make sure people get to know the real impact of losing jobs. Here are some extracts from the letter.

My mother who raised her children on her own and started work part time when my younger brother started school has worked her guts out for her family and paid tax to a government that has basically shitted on her.

She also lives on her own in a small privately rented one bedroom flat. Now faced with unemployment and the prospect of having to move out of the flat that she will no longer be able to afford and go on the unemployment benefit and move into a state flat.

The reality is employers are not looking for workers of her age the the prospect of her getting a decent paying job is very slim. This has terrified her and she is in turmoil and worry about her future something that a woman of her age does not need in her life. My mother is a loving and vibrant woman who now seems depressed and anxious.

I know from talking with other people facing the same issues that she is not alone. People in this country continue to struggle to buy food and clothe their children or themselves.

Cutting the public service is not the answer. People’s livelihoods depend on their jobs and the retail sector depends on people spending their money. This government should be creating jobs which I do not see them doing. When cutting budgets and jobs is the only method a government has to reduce debt that government will not survive in an election.

She goes on in the letter to talk about some of her personal circumstances which I won’t put in the public arena. But the reason she wrote was not for herself, but for her mother. Its a real story about the real impact of unemployment, and I think it deserves to be heard.

Tags: , ,
Filed under: jobs, public services
40 Comments

CYF frontline cuts widen

Posted by A Guest Poster on July 27th, 2011
 
Dr David Clark is the Labour candidate for Dunedin North
 
 I have received further detail of significant cuts to Child, Youth and Family services across Otago and Southland.

The information corroborates my original sources and confirms that cuts are occurring to child care and protection services in more South Island communities than previously thought.

New sources tell me that in Dunedin one frontline supervisor position has been halved and two social worker positions have been cut, plus one family group conference co-ordinator, one administrator and one social work resource assistant position.

That is a total of five and half positions in Dunedin alone delivering or supporting frontline services in our region.

In Otago, two social worker positions and one supervisor position have been cut affecting services in Oamaru, Alexandra, Gore and Balclutha. In Invercargill, at least two social workers and one supervisor position have been cut.

These are reductions in essential services. Services that provide the opportunity for a young person to turn their life around, for a family in distress to get the support they need, for a child in harm’s way to get the care and protection they deserve.

These cuts clearly indicate that frontline social work in Otago and Southland is being hollowed out while National repeatedly claims to be improving public services and moving resources to the frontline.

Is the Minister for Social Development aware that, contrary to the Government’s stated commitment to putting more workers on the frontline, the reverse is happening, that frontline staff are being cut at Child, Youth and Family?

Is the Minister aware that Child, Youth and Family’s head office is claiming: ‘There are no staffing cuts to the organisation. No cuts are being made. No staff member is losing their job’*?

In light of the new detail on reductions in Otago and Southland services, I have lodged a further Official Information Request to get past the smokescreen from head office to the truth of the situation – that deep cuts are being made to already stretched services in the South.

I would be the first to congratulate the Minister if the staffing cuts reflected a significant reduction in the number of children and families needing protection and support. Regrettably, that would be a naive assumption.

Child, Youth and Family is that vital line between hope and despair, between giving a child refuge from neglect and abuse and turning our back on the plight of the defenceless. 

 * Source: CYF manager of public affairs Bernadine MacKenzie, quoted in Otago Daily Times on 21 July 2011.

Tags: , ,
Filed under: children, jobs, public services
11 Comments

Dunedin cuts – CYF spindoctors stretch truth

Posted by A Guest Poster on July 26th, 2011

Dr David Clark is the Labour candidate for Dunedin North

My previous posts about the cuts to frontline child protection services in Dunedin have attracted a response.  Unfortunately the response is clearly the work of CYF’s spindoctors.

I am saddened to see CYF dodge questions regarding front line job-cuts in Dunedin.  The CYF spokesperson describes Otago and Southland as having “more social workers per caseload” than other areas, and talks about deciding whether vacated positions will be filled – according to workload in the region.

This is classic doublespeak.  As positions are vacated in Otago and Southland, they are not being replaced; a straight shooter would call this job-cuts.  Frontline positions are being axed. Vulnerable children are at risk.

Tragically, need for CYF services is in high demand.  Our stagnant economy has put increased pressure on Dunedin families.  Can CYF confirm they have as many front line staff in Dunedin now as they had a year ago?  Or better still, provide credible evidence that our most vulnerable children are no longer at risk?  Of course they can’t.  This makes me angry.  Under National’s direction, CYF are spending money on spindoctors.  That money should be spent on staff at the coal-face.

Tags: , ,
Filed under: children, jobs, public services
7 Comments

Cuts make lie of National’s promise not to cut front line services.

Posted by A Guest Poster on July 20th, 2011

Apologies to David Clark, labour’s candidate for Dunedin North. I accidently posted this under my name not his. Clare

Cuts of up to 30 front line staff at Child, Youth and Family make a lie of National’s promise not to cut front line services.

Our community, our children deserve better. We cannot stand by and let these cuts occur.

In April, Bill English said National was ‘committed to moving resources from the back office to the frontline so we can deliver improved public services to taxpayers with little or no new money over the next few years’. *

Questions:

  • How is reducing the number of frontline social workers in Dunedin “moving resources to the frontline”?
  • How is making highly trained social workers redundant who support and protect our most vulnerable children going to “deliver improved public services to taxpayers”?

The Government needs to honour its promise to retain front line services. All New Zealanders should demand that the Government reverse this appalling decision.

* [Source: Minister of Finance press release, “Room for savings in state sector back office” dated 13 April 2011]

Tags: , , , ,
Filed under: children, jobs, public services
3 Comments

Children at risk as Government axes frontline CYF staff

Posted by A Guest Poster on July 20th, 2011

David Clark is the Labour candidate for Dunedin North

National is about to axe front line staff at Child, Youth and Family. Up to 30 front line jobs are to be cut from Child, Youth and Family services nationwide.

Dunedin is losing four of those positions, two frontline social workers and two front line supervisors. Cuts are also being made to Child, Youth and Family in Invercargill and on the West Coast.

Child, Youth and Family do remarkable work on behalf of the whole community to prevent child abuse and neglect, and to give families the support they need to care for their children. They provide safe, loving homes for children who need that care and they work with young people to turn their lives around.

The timing of these cuts could not be worse, as the cost of living and unemployment increases. There is growing pressure on families. These cuts are an abdication of our collective responsibility to care and protect our most vulnerable citizens, to help those who cannot speak for themselves.

The Government must reverse this appalling decision.

Tags: , ,
Filed under: children, jobs, public services
1 Comment

Shared Services- Across the ditch

Posted by Grant Robertson on July 19th, 2011

There is a lot of work going on inside the public service in New Zealand around the idea of shared services. On the surface this looks like a good idea. There are sure to be efficiencies to be found in bringing together systems and some purchasing practices. But we need to go into this with our eyes open. For instance some of the government’s pruchasing contracts are shutting out smaller New Zealand companies.

And now a second Australian state has run into trouble with trying to merge payroll, HR and finance systems. This time it is Western Australia where the government has been forced to pull the plug on the new state wide payroll and finance system. It was meant to cost $82 million to set up and save $50 million a year, instead it has cost $440 million since 2003, and “saved” $42 million over the whole eight years. Premier Colin Barnett has called it “one of the great bungles of public administration.” In Queensland there was another massive cost blowout when their new payroll system collapsed.

DIA is leading the work for some massive shared services projects here. The Health sector is alive with them. Treasury, SSC and DPMC are about to launch into a shared services arrangement. Other big arrangements are in the wind. There might well be good value in some of these but there should be a good dose of caution as well.

Filed under: public services
4 Comments

There’s money in being green

Posted by David Shearer on July 8th, 2011

I was at the very cool and slick launch of Pure Advantage last night. There’s been a bit of media around it, but the message is simple – NZ is clean and green and it’s not only a great thing but we can leverage it to make money out of it. Check out their facebook and website.

A line from last night:
China has committed a trillion dollars to alternative energy. And it’s not because they care about trees.

There’s money to be made in being green.

Tags: , , , ,
Filed under: Green Jobs, Pure Advantage, Research & Development, economy
6 Comments

the leader of the national party sends even more kiwi jobs to China

Posted by Trevor Mallard on June 24th, 2011

Very interesting that the leader of the national party and Steven Joyce have left it to a Chinese website to announce that they have on our behalf purchased another 20 locomotives that should have been built at Hillside and Woburn. No tender. And the first 20 over a year late from the same Chinese source.

Maybe it was because Kiwirail were at the same time firing staff in Dunedin and the Hutt Valley.

Because it is Kiwirail not Chinarail it is time the economic benefits of these purchases (jobs created, skills developed, tax paid, benefits avoided) rather than just the accounting costs are taken into account.

KIWIRAIL Purchase Additional 20 sets of “MADE IN CHINA CNR” Diesel-electric Locomotives
Source?Author?Date?2011-06-17
On June 2, CNR Import & Export Corp. Ltd of CHINA CNR Corp. Ltd. Singed another contract for 20 diesel-electric locomotives with KIWIRAIL New Zealand. The partner PPD company in New Zealand of CNR Import & Export Corp. Ltd has been strongly supporting this contract. This is KIWIRAIL to the CNR purchase after first 20 locomotives in 2009.

Tags:
Filed under: Rail, Unemployment, economy, inequality, infrastructure, public services, redundancy
22 Comments

Nats plan more radical ACC reforms?

Posted by Chris Hipkins on June 5th, 2011

Nick Smith’s argument in favour of privatising the ACC Work account has already been blown out of the water by the private insurance industry themselves, who openly admit that they can’t offer cover as cheaply as ACC can. This from the Dom Post story:

Vero’s executive general manager of new ventures Nigel Edmiston said his company – which is owned by the Australian SunCorp Group – had done some planning on entering the workplace insurance market but that the Government’s proposal “wasn’t particularly attractive”…

Edmiston said that private insurers would not be able to compete with ACC’s pricing and would prefer it was excised completely from the market.

“[ACC] have a huge market share, they have all the infrastructure and systems, they’ve got no set up costs, they don’t pay tax and they don’t pay dividends and they don’t need capital.”

He said at the outset private insurers would need to provide 80 cents in capital expenses for every dollar gained in premiums on such a product.

In other words, Edmiston is confirming what we’ve said all along. ACC is incredibly efficient and cheap, and it ensures that all of the money collected actually goes into helping those with injuries, rather than into the profit lines of the Aussie insurance industry.

The only way the private insurance industry could compete would be if ACC was excluded, in other words, the cheapest provider was arbitarily shut out of the market. How exactly would that be competition?

This all begs the question, however, of just how enduring Nick Smith’s commitment to his current proposal is. If National win the next election, don’t be surprised to see a more radical proposal for ACC reform suddenly emerge as National claims it has won a ‘mandate’ to do whatever it likes in dismantling our world-leading ACC scheme.

Tags: , , , ,
Filed under: ACC, privatisation, public services
18 Comments

Time to re-think govt office space

Posted by Chris Hipkins on June 4th, 2011

I see yet another brand new high rise building is being planned for the lower end of Lambton Quay, with a government department, reportedly the Ministry for Social Development, signed-on as the anchor tenant. Frankly I’m getting a bit fed up of seeing massive amounts of money spent on brand new buildings in the Wellington CBD for government departments and agencies. Why does every government employee need to be located right opposite the Beehive in some of the most expensive real estate going? Why is it important for a call centre operator to be located across the road from the Minister they are never likely to meet?

Out here in Upper Hutt, we’ve got plenty of office space going that would be ideal for government employees, and it would cost the taxpayer about a third of what it costs to keep them in CBD offices. In this era of greater austerity and cost-cutting, surely we should be looking at whether or not we need to continue to prop up a bunch of central city property developers when there is plenty of office space on the periphery and in the suburbs that’s already available (not to mention the economic, social and environmental benefits of allowing people to work closer to where they actually live).

Public servants are entitled to work in comfortable surroundings, but that doesn’t mean they have to be accommodated in brand new CBD offices. It’s time for a major re-think about how government procurement of office space is handled. Having different government agencies bidding against each other for new office space is just stupid, and I understand that has happened in the past. Perhaps it’s time for a more centrally coordinated approach, with an increased emphasis on de-centralisation?

Tags: , , ,
Filed under: public services, wellington
27 Comments

Penguin campaign cover

Posted by Trevor Mallard on May 28th, 2011

farrar-campaign-cover

Filed under: humour, national, public services
32 Comments

Are the Nats dodging the OIA?

Posted by Chris Hipkins on May 22nd, 2011

The Official Information Act is a really important part of our constitutional framework. Passed back in 1981, it turned the old approach on its head. Before then, information was kept secret unless there was good reason to release it. Now State information is publicly released unless there is good reason to withhold it.

Government departments and agencies have pretty good processes for dealing with requests for official information. An important part of that is making sure information generated is captured and stored in the first place.

The world has changed a lot since the Official Information Act (OIA) was passed in 1981, one of the most notable changes being the emergence of email as a significiant means of information sharing and communication. The public service has adapted and information transmitted via email is captured and released under the OIA when requested.

Recently I was told that some staff working in National ministers’ offices have been setting up Gmail accounts in order to get around the OIA and to ensure that their communications aren’t captured. If they are transmitting ‘official’ information through Gmail and aren’t releasing it when asked, they are breaking the law.

I asked John Key whether he had a policy on the use by staff of Gmail. He is the Minister Responsible for Ministerial Services, so if staff working in the Beehive are breaking the law then the buck stops with him. He answered my question stating “The question the member asks relates to staffing matters which are the responsibility of the Chief Executive.”

Frankly, that’s just not good enough. John Key has a responsibility to ensure that the staff working in the Beehive are complying with the law and aren’t hiding official information. If they are using Gmail accounts to get around the OIA, John Key needs to crack down on that ASAP. Failure to do so suggests they have something to hide.

Tags: , , , ,
Filed under: democracy, parliament, public services
17 Comments

Making Sh*t Up

Posted by Grant Robertson on May 18th, 2011

I know sometimes people find it hard to understand why some of us, especially Labour MPs, get so upset with that “nice Mr Key”. Of course we disagree on policy, but in part I think it is because we see a side of him in Parliament others don’t. Also for me its about his tendency, to use the phrase of the moment, to “make sh*t up”.

An article in yesterday’s Dominion Post on the likelihood of further public service cuts included the following statement from John Key.

They have typically been having higher levels of wage increases prior to National coming into office; public sector wages outstripped private sector wages for a long period of time.

The problem is this is just not backed up by any evidence. Actually the Treasury told them the opposite just after the election. Ruth Dyson as Labour’s State Services Spokesperson released that document yesterday, which Labour had obtained under the OIA. It says

Public sector wage increases have not outstripped the private sector with the exception of the education and health sectors, which arguably address legacy problems and respond to international markets

The reference to education and health is to pay increases for doctors, nurses and teachers that occured under Labour. The PM in the article is talking about the core public service. In actual fact under the last Labour government the pay for “core government administration” was almost exactly in line with private sector wage increases. The PM has just made something up to suit his agenda. He needs to be called out on this, and its good the Dom Post have done so.

The NZ Herald also has an article that covers the PMs (deliberate?) vagueness, with the news that he is not sure if he is a member of Kiwisaver.

Prime Minister John Key yesterday could not remember if he was a member of KiwiSaver. “I’m a member of whatever that Government scheme is that applied to members [of parliament] that came in in 2002. “I think it might be [KiwiSaver] but I’m not 100 per cent sure.”

The register shows that Mr Key has an “individual retirement plan”.

I am sure there are a few Kiwis who would love to be in a position when you are not really sure if you are in Kiwisaver!

All over the details, that’s our PM.

Tags: , ,
Filed under: kiwisaver, public services
16 Comments

Policy Advice Review-Perpetuating the Myths

Posted by Grant Robertson on April 29th, 2011

Forgive me for this I told you so moment, but it infuriates me. To recap. Last year the government announced a review of policy advice. This was the one where Bill English claimed an alternative was to look on websites for policy, the “government by google” approach.

The announcement of the review came complete with the usual hyping up of Labour’s record on public services.

Between 2003 and 2009, total Government spending on policy advice across all ministries, departments and agencies is estimated to have jumped by more than 70 per cent from about $510 million to $880 million. “This is faster than the already rapid general increase in total Government spending during this period,” Finance Minister Bill English says. “The amount spent on policy advice is now nearly three quarters of the Government’s total annual police budget and it almost matches our annual spending on social housing.

At the time I raised concerns about the “estimate” of spending on policy advice being based, according to the Terms of Reference for the review, on

appropriation data from Budget data files gained by searching on the terms ‘policy’ and ‘policies’ in the title field

Terrific attention to detail there. And now that the report has been produced the Dominion Post reports

At the time the review was announced, the Government claimed policy spending had risen from $510 million in 2003 to $880m in 2009. However, the review – led by former Treasury secretary Graham Scott – found that most of the increase was spent on non-policy-related activities. Excluding the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry, overall spending actually declined slightly in real terms over the period.

That’s right, with one exception, spending on policy advice went down in real terms. National has spent a lot of time going on about how Labour increased the back office at the expense of so-called frontline services. But their own report, by the former ACT candidate Graham Scott, finds this is not true.

Will we hear a retraction or apology from Bill English? No, he glosses over it as an estimate, despite making such a big deal of it at the time.

I welcome finding ways of improving policy advice to government, but it is not ok just to make things up that suit the myths you want to spread.

Tags: , ,
Filed under: public services
5 Comments

On Murray McCully, leopards and spots

Posted by Maryan Street on April 28th, 2011

And now for something NOT about the Royal Wedding….has anybody noticed how remarkably consistent Murray McCully is? I mean, recall the Tourism Board fiasco when McCully was last a Minister? First, he created a little advisory unit to advise him alone on Tourism and Sport. He made it up. He appointed all the members – no precedent in the public service. Then he forced people he had appointed to the Tourism Board to resign, but made sure they took $340,000 tax free with them to make them feel better. The Auditor-General’s Office later found the payments to be unlawful and recommended the Board get the money back. Good luck with that – that was 1999. He also got a one-off $12.5 million boost for the Tourism Board for promotional work so that his mate Kevin Roberts, head of Saatchi and Saatchi at the time could live comfortably, given the Tourism Board was one of S&S’s clients. That got Jenny Shipley into a lot of hot water but she couldn’t remember what she and Kevin had talked about over dinner so that was alright.

Now he’s at it again, but this time with a Ministry (MFAT) which is a little harder to push around, but he’s still succeeding. Last year he passed over $75,000 or so to his old mate, Mark Blumsky, ex-shoe seller, Mayor of Wellington and fleeting MP. No tender process, no bidding required – just “here’s some money Mark, go and see what you can do to develop tourism in Niue. Oh, and by the way, I’ll chuck in the High Commissioner’s job as well.” He’s building on that success to reach over the top of trained and qualified diplomats to open postings to the private sector, who as we all know, are supremely qualified to run everything (eg: Merrill Lynch, Hanover, South Canterbury Finance, etc.).  So how can we continue to train diplomats who have NZ’s interests at heart when they know that McCully is simply going to reach over them with his sticky little fingers and dish out goodies to mates? Much has been made recently by Iain Rennie, State Services Commissioner, of how good it is for public sector workers to be seconded into the private sector. Well, it might be. But it would be really good for private sector whizz kids to spend some time in the public sector also – learning the difference between public interest and private interest; service and corruption. I am proud of our public service. They help us maintain our international reputation for being transparent and virtually corruption-free. I don’t know if Murray McCully understands that. Leopards and spots….that’s all I’m saying.

Tags:
Filed under: Foreign Affairs, admin, public services
14 Comments

Tell the Government: Don’t Cut Our Future!

Posted by Trevor Mallard on April 27th, 2011

Flyer

t Cut Our Future

Tags:
Filed under: ACC, Arts and Culture, Budget, Child Support, Civil Defence, Consumer Affairs, Cost of Living, Green Jobs, Health and Safety, Skills, TVNZ 7, Victims' rights, Working for Families, act party, asset sales, broadcasting, business, children, conservation, debt, disabilities, economy, education, environment, family, finance, food, health, housing, inequality, jobs, justice, law and order, low pay, minimum wage, politics, public services, science, senior citizens, social development, superannuation, youth
21 Comments

The state of our services

Posted by Grant Robertson on April 25th, 2011

A curious little article has appeared today quoting State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie. Curious for a couple of reasons. First, the whole thing sounds like a political statement rather than that from a public servant. I certainly accept that public services will change the way they deliver services over the next few years, and we all welcome efficiencies in the public service. But his certainty about “the next five years” (why five years?) is also curious. The part of the statement about a reduction in the number of agencies is the direction of the current government, but it looks at public services the wrong way round from my point of view. We should be looking at the kind of services we want and need, and then considering how they are best delivered, not having a fixed view about the number of agencies going into that.

The article notes that SSC itself is safe “at this stage”. There are many wondering if it does have a future, with the future shape of the public sector being driven elsewhere. The overall strategic direction is coming from Treasury. The IT services are now with the Department of Internal Affairs, and procurement initiatives are being driven by MED. SSC is limited to the employment of Chief Executives as its main function.

I actually think this is a bad thing for public services. Treasury’s role is important in terms of fiscal discipline, but the agenda of quality public services needs someone to balance the power of Treasury. We have seen in past decades that an over powerful Treasury can wreck havoc if there is not some balance in the system. In its current state SSC does not look much like that organisation, but some competition of ideas in terms of the future development of public services is vital to their future health.

Tags: , , ,
Filed under: public services
19 Comments

« Older Entries