Written By: - Date published: 9:32 am, April 10th, 2012 - 8 comments
Cronyism. The politicisation of the public service. Internal power struggles. It’s all just grubby Nat politics as usual. Why do we put up with it?
Written By: - Date published: 9:45 am, February 17th, 2012 - 172 comments
The Nats want to replace public service jobs with computerised systems. They claim that this will improve service and save money. Quite apart from the folly of destroying jobs in the current economy, they are likely wrong on both those claims.
Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, August 30th, 2011 - 41 comments
Good human interest story in the DomPost today about the human costs of public service jobs cuts. A Wellington woman has written a letter to Prime Minister John after her 63-year-old mother learned last week that her position at the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry is to be axed. Staffing cuts after a merger with the Fisheries …
Written By: - Date published: 8:26 am, March 19th, 2011 - 37 comments
Who will plan, oversee and administer the rebuilding of Christchurch? Public servants. The kind of “back room bureaucrats” that the Nats love to hate. But governments can’t get anything done without them.
Written By: - Date published: 7:07 am, February 10th, 2011 - 66 comments
By every significant measure our economy is a mess. Bill English is finance minister for what is looking increasingly like the most useless do-nothing NZ government in living memory. So is he working on a plan to put things right? Is he rolling out the big ideas that will get New Zealand moving again? No – he’s lashing out at public servants. Pathetic.
Written By: - Date published: 12:55 am, May 13th, 2010 - 24 comments
I’ve been having a look at the new advice on the civil service code of conduct. It is a clear attempt by the Nats to make sure the civil service is ‘politically correct’ for their purposes. Perhaps they’re tired of getting official advice that says ‘don’t cut that, it’s good value for money’, ‘don’t fund that, it’s stupid’, and ‘don’t pass that law, it might cause more murders’.
Written By: - Date published: 9:07 am, December 24th, 2009 - 41 comments
So John Key thinks I’m a Muppet. “[when I'm in Hawaii on holiday] they’ll send me stuff … those Muppets in the background who send it all to me”* Well f#ck you, John. While you’re off in Hawaii with your DPS pouring you drinks, I’ll be working. The days I do get on ‘holiday’ I …
Written By: - Date published: 5:41 pm, April 25th, 2009 - 42 comments
There was a great turnout at the Mount Albert War Memorial building this morning, both inside the hall and people outside waiting for the flag and the silence. What has been intriguing me over the years is the changing number and demographics of the people who are now turning up. When I first started attending …
Written By: - Date published: 12:18 pm, April 23rd, 2009 - 18 comments
On the impending job losses at the IRD, TVNZ reporter Catherine Loft ended her report with: “Anyone who once thought that they were safe working for our government really needs to think again”. I wonder how on earth they could have got that idea?
Written By: - Date published: 11:58 am, June 24th, 2008 - 19 comments
It’s good to see the PSA broadening the public debate on tax cuts with a UMR poll showing the majority of Kiwis don’t want bigger tax cuts if they come at the expense of public services. To summarise: 71% of New Zealanders would prefer to keep taxes at current levels than have higher user charges …
Written By: - Date published: 10:07 am, June 23rd, 2008 - 24 comments
As you know, National promised to cap core public servant numbers at 36,000. That was going to deliver each of us a whopping 50 cents a week tax cut. Well, that one single solid policy promise from National is already in serious jeopardy. Corrections staff make up 6600 plus of the supposed ‘bureaucrats’ of the core …
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