Chris Finlayson pretends that the government has nothing to do with serious cuts to our foreign affairs staff. Unconvincingly.
Red Alert
Posts Tagged ‘MFAT’
Question of the day #2
Posted by Clare Curran on March 6th, 2012“Going through a consultation process” and “yet to be determined” seem to be the new buzz phrases for “cutting jobs”
McCully should front on contractor spending
Posted by Grant Robertson on June 10th, 2010I have just watched the TV3 story on contractor spending at MFAT with no sound here in Shanghai, so just going on the written content, I am pleased it focused on Murray McCully’s role as a Minister who does not seem to have been practicing what he was preaching when it came to belt tightening.
I have to say I struggled with how to react to this information. As readers will know I am a passionate believer in our public services and I have spent a huge amount of time defending them against the attacks by the National government. As many of you also know I am a former MFAT staff member, and have many friends who still work there (though perhaps fewer after tonight!).
I think that we must invest in our diplomatic service and ensure that they are kept healthy, safe and secure while they work overseas. MFAT staff do great work, often in trying conditions, and I strongly support them in that. Many of those in Wellington have been covering a couple of positions in recent times as there has been an effective freeze on hiring.
That is one aspect of Duncan Garner’s story I do not agree with. This is not about the fact that there have not been job losses at MFAT. If anything that should go the other way in my view, and more people should be employed. My concern is with the priority given to some of the expenditure outlined in the story.
We need to ensure that public money is spent wisely, and when the government goes down the path of spending cuts on areas like health, education and housing, questions have to be asked about what spending should be a priority. Some of the sums of money involved for projects in the list just seemed out of sync with what we were hearing from the government last year in the midst of the recession.
That is why the focus should be on the Ministers who ultimately give the direction and sign off on the policy.
New aid board to advise McCully – a contradiction in terms?
Posted by Phil Twyford on May 20th, 2010Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully has recruited philanthropist Sir Stephen Tindall, economist Gareth Morgan, Barry Coates of Oxfam and company director Trevor Janes as a board to advise him on aid matters. They will be joined by MFAT CEO John Allen and the new head of the international development group(formerly known as NZAID) Amanda Ellis. Given the Minister’s notorious disregard for officials’ advice it will be interesting to see how much he listens to his new advisers.
