The only way they'll get ahead, is that Labour has gone full steam…

from chatting with david farrar the other week you'd think that the TEC is in the headlights

I'm aware that TEC's not performed as well as people hoped – myself included – however simply cutting it and returning to the Ministry may well be a false economy. Obviously, it'd depend…

It's a lot of people to pull out of the civil service. That's what... 4-5% of them?

yup.

i can't even begin to wonder where the national party is looking to. but, from chatting with david farrar the other week you'd think that the TEC is in the headlights.

now…

makes me wonder where in the public service? there are a few over-inflated policy units that really do need to be shrunk... but these kinds of numbers would herald a potential return to the bad old days of richardson and birch.

Yeah. And so far Key has been throwing out…

I didn't realize people cost so much.

that's a figure i heard somewhere, but someone with management experience could confirm it. it's roughly salary +$20/30k in overheads.

and we're not talking trips to fiji and a laid-on lunch. it's air-con and ict support.

What do unemployed policy developers do?

become…

Key's talking about a wage 'saving' of $500,000,000 over three years.

housing and salarying a bum on seat can cost between $80k-$100k+ per year, per person.

that's between 1600 and 2000 jobs gone (but not necessarily from wellington).

makes me wonder where in the public service? there are a few…

Mind you, Oz does have an 3rd layer of Govt (State, in addition to Federal and Local) compared with NZ's 2-layer system.

Agreed and it's hard for someone who…

The debate should be about whether or not those jobs are important enough for us to pay however many million dollars on them.

Not whether theatre, a movie theatre, a supermarket, a corner dairy, etc etc will suffer.

If factories close down in small towns, it sucks for…

I am arguing that leading with the impact on Wellington's cultural life is venal, elitist, and calculated to reinforce the very resentment that supposedly motivates cutting the public sector. I do not understand why it even rates a mention when there…

"paua" was appalling... i was considering cheering for the poachers.

we're hoping the marilyn monroe one is at least interesting.

Christchurch = Court Theatre

I'm pretty sure I was responsible for the end of Pro-Am Theatre Sports there in the early 90s. The Am that is.

These are the people who go to gigs and plays and support the galleries. Drive them out of central Wellington, and you'd be left with a very different — and much less interesting — place.

Um, the fan-fucking-tastic Auckland Theatre Company's production of The Crucible I raved about last year…

rb, are you suggesting that the herald is not running a column of keith's that might shed light on one of key's statements?

that's a little far-fetched…

He had the 5Million Pop for NZ campaign a decade back.

Does anyone know the tipping point when our population can support itself rather than being totally reliant on exports as we are?

keith ng could do a better job with these stats!

He did (no offence) but someone's not doing their job in putting Fact Check up on the Herald website. Keith should ask the HoS if he can just post the column a couple of days later.

this pdf from the OECD has some interesting figures on numbers of public sector employees. p.52 has a graph.

in this case "public sector" employees seems to include *anyone* employed by government. in…

These are the people who go to gigs and plays and support the galleries. Drive them out of central Wellington, and you'd be left with a very different — and much less interesting — place.

it does make us sound like we're overpaid party-goers. :)

that said though, the life…

These are the people who go to gigs and plays and support the galleries. Drive them out of central Wellington, and you'd be left with a very different — and much less interesting — place.

That is a concern, but honestly, if that's the only reason, then the "intellectual resentment"…

Deb – here you've focused on size but not function and so sets up an agenda to reduce it the size of govt.

These are the people who go to gigs and plays and support the galleries. Drive them out of central Wellington, and you'd be left with a very different — and much less interesting — place.

Yes, but that doesn't mean that the size of the public service shouldn't be reviewed.…

I doubt that Key would be prepared to risk a 1951 with the PSA.

Not much of a risk, one would think Deep Red.

the professionalism in the NZ public sector is also comparatively high. Perhaps I'll leave it at that however.

yeah, you better had. Before you start encouraging the wingnuts to come back.

Telecom & a few other companies got screwed in court for draining every drop of blood out of their employees and then firing them.

The phrase work…

Compared with the the Australian public sector, NZ's is very efficient.

LOL, yeah, I got a mate who got a job recently working as a lawyer for the Govt over in Sydney. He said after 3 months he hadn't actually been asked to do any work whatsoever. When it came…

Too much coffee this morning produced finger twitch.

No, but does it make for efficient government if senior management is ideologically opposed to the policy direction that has been decided upon by the elected government.

There is a thing called professionalism, you know. And quite a lot of senior public servants have it in spades, even if some…

No, but does it make for efficient government if senior management is ideologically opposed to the policy direction that has been decided upon by the elected government.

There is a thing called professionalism, you know. And quite a lot of senior public servants have it in spades, even if some…

My concern is that even to a leftie like me a lot of these new civil servant jobs sound pretty damn superfluous. (Maybe…

No, but does it make for efficient government if senior management is ideologically opposed to the policy direction that has been decided upon by the elected government.

Well, considering that the whole point of an apolitical civil service is the provision of free and frank advice which the Government is…

No, but does it make for efficient government if senior management is ideologically opposed to the policy direction that has been decided…

Now it's the CEO of WetWater on $400k plus bonuses – and a whole executive…

Not for mobile phones though. If you don't want a phone that doesn't work…

You do wish folk like her would go away forever. Dare I whisper the name again of Duncan Fallowell but there is a review by Simon Carr of his 'Going As Far As I Can', in the latest New Statesman (10 March)

It's here.

Not bad, either.

I'll go so…

I'm sure we all have our own list of public figures who we wish that of, political or not.

It was not so much her dangly bits that were so offensive, but her politics--which have become more overt in recent months.

You do wish folk like her would go away forever.

Really, Geoff? First, I'd make the observation that "in recent months" Rankin has been a private citizen, and…

You do wish folk like her would go away forever. Dare I whisper the name again of Duncan Fallowell but there is a review by Simon Carr of…

Of course, you don't hear about that side of things from the National Party.

Yeah, Kotare, and nine years ago you could be forgiven for thinking WINZ staff spent all their time jetting around the country with Christine Rankin buying gaudy ear-bobs.

Perhaps part of the problem is that central government is so far removed from those who live outside of Wellington that it is hard to really understand what they do. Or…

Once people like Key get into power, they quickly realise that they need the "bureaucrats" to get things done. The ultimate aphrodisiac for ministers is having officials who provide them…

I'm not so sure that you can generalize basic poor customer service as the sole domain or norm of the public service...

Quite right, Russell C. And if I ever say something that stupid, you have permission to kick one in the head with your best pair of hob-nailed stilettos.…

Spending on core services has increased substantially since the 90s, even controlling for special ed type things.

ahhh... i see. thanks 100.

do you know if the spending increase is particular to salaried positions, or does it also encompass plant and "infrastructure" like flashy computer systems?

"[Corporate blogging] Rule One: Don't be a doofus"

Rule Two: A blog is not a string of press releases.

i thought it was common knowledge that although the "bureacracy" shrank in the 1990s, all the work was shifted to contractors?

Bit of a myth. Spending on core services has increased substantially since the 90s, even controlling for special ed type things.

Following the dollars gives a better picture than…

it's a safe labour seat! he has nothing to fear.

We have MMP now. Every (party) vote counts.

You'll excuse me if I wish the IRD staffer who wasted over an hour of my time this morning would die a lot. Or is it an unreasonable expectation that someone you've made an appointment to see be competent, well-trained and civil?

I'm not so sure that you…

Agreed we now have outsourced incompetence as well. I think it was 45 schools in and around Christchurch that didn't pay some of the teachers for the 1st month – 6 weeks of this year.

that mash-up is phenomenal. cheers.

It's made from two of the more mashed-up tunes of all time, so it has a head start there.

Also check out Smells like Compton from Party Ben. Mashes up Teen Spirit with Straight Outta Compton. Ice Cube and Eazy E are perfect ranting over…

did i mention that i had to self-diagnose to get accurate information to the surgeon who was going to perform my a heart operation? (it's about four paragraphs down.)

Yup, and that's why I don't really give a shit about people who get into a fit of righteous indignation that…

Late 1960's and New Zealand doing everything it can to develop new export markets as the EEC was about to strike.
.
The Straits Times Express, Singpores leading English Language daily was a…

Does John Key actually want to get any votes in Wellington?

it's a safe labour seat! he has nothing to fear.

he personally lined up Wellington Hospital management and went Rambo on their arse. I don't think that place is so much dysfunctional as something out of the more frightening…

Does John Key actually want to get any votes in Wellington?

Well, I know at least one nurse who would blow John Key in the middle of Civic Square if he personally lined up Wellington Hospital management and went Rambo on their arse. I don't think that place is so…

Right, 'cause those sectors don't need more resources.

Actually I suppose there's a case for less top level management in health; that can all be contracted out, of…

We worked long and hard, on complex and technically difficult issues. Every time someone ranted about getting rid of faceless bureaucrats, I wondered if it was me they were after. Every time someone complained about lazy public servants, I thought abut the…

I'm one of those faceless 'crats myself (not at the IRD) and it actually appals me to hear the level of service that some people have received.

same.

and i was at the ird. one of the type of people craig encountered was my primary motivation to taking…

Or is it an unreasonable expectation that someone you've made an appointment to see be competent, well-trained and civil?

Holy crap, has Vodafone been nationalised?

With apologies to the local lurkers of Voda-ilk who I'm sure are lovely people equally aghast at their system issues...

that someone who has a very long history of throwing around barbed insults at his political enemies perhaps doesn't occupy the moral high ground over liberal use of the B-word

I have a problem with it. He's using bureaucrat in the pejorative without actually specifying what positions he means.

Ditto.…

hamboy, the AK47 is still a prized weapon in the feild because it's so rediculously reliable and has oodles more knock down power than an M16, which would be particularly necessary at those ranges. nothing second rate about the AK, marines covet them.

very interesting also to…

Hey, I miss getting three copies of my student loan statement. And more fool me for ringing them up and suggesting I only needed one. (I've got a theory that the IRD has been taken over by aliens that feed on bewilderment and simmering hostility.)

If you enjoy that, you…

that someone who has a very long history of throwing around barbed insults at his political enemies perhaps doesn't occupy the moral high ground over liberal use of the B-word

I have a problem with it. He's using bureaucrat in the pejorative without actually specifying what positions he means.…

Youtube comments – Also Hilarious!

I distinctly remember the first discussion I had with a friend…

You'll excuse me if I wish the IRD staffer who wasted over an hour of my time this morning would die a lot. Or is it an unreasonable expectation that someone you've made an appointment to see be competent, well-trained and civil?

I'm one of those faceless 'crats myself (not…

does bureaucracy need a marketing campaign?

not just pushing paper: pushing envelopes

Hey, I miss getting three copies of my student loan statement. And more fool me for ringing them up and suggesting I only needed one. (I've got a theory that the IRD has been taken over by aliens…

Hey Craig you know that the ol' "National did this wrong but Labour also did something else wrong" defence, doesn't make Nationals actions right.

That's something Cullen said in Parliament one day. This is a conscious attempt to raise public odium through the use of certain words.

Daivd & Russell. I…

Merc – Any idea why the yanks were using an AK47 (wooden stock) at the end?

Think they were Iraqi soldiers. Marines get the expensive toys. Iraqis just get cheap knock offs.

Your comment suggests to me that there may be a more worrying logic at work here:…

that mash-up is phenomenal. cheers.

It's made from two of the more mashed-up tunes of all time, so it has a head start there.

Credit to ol' Havo, who played it this morning.

He tried to pull a swifty by not saying the track name of who it was by,…

Would you willingly hire someone who made such a declaration about the job on offer?

Is that a calculated loss of their life or a payment to the family after their death?

not just pushing paper: pushing envelopes

Bureaucrats who pay taxes ... ?

Boo Hooray

My new-entrants teacher friend is pretty emphatic about the value of the special-ed advice from "bureaucrats" that has become available to her in the past few years.

I was talking to my daughter's audiologist yesterday. In June, 'the gummint' is bringing in hearing testing for newborns. Because the heads of…

XKCD

Very funny geek humor!

National seems to believe that it is not the role of government to do the long term policy research and development necessary to uncover the causes of bad stuff and come up with solutions.

Exactly right, and I wish such fundamental points of…

the Government has brought Special Education back into the core public service, as opposed to having them as external contractors.

i thought it was common knowledge that although the "bureacracy" shrank in the 1990s, all the work was shifted to contractors?

working as a researcher, i can tell you that…

Bureaucrats – "paper-shufflers" BOO!
Taxpayers – "hard-working" HOORAY!

Bureaucrats who pay taxes ... ?

It's just a stupid, perjorative word that advances no sensible argument.

And "the John Key of old" (i.e. his first few months as Leader) didn't strike me as being the type to use those pointless perjoratives – he seemed a relatively pragmatic and realistic guy then (I heard at least…

If you asked most NZers if they thought the work done by those in GSE should be done by people directly employed by the Ministry of Education most would say yes, I believe. I suspect there would be quite a few similar examples in other areas too.

My new-entrants teacher…

Perhaps, but could the Government put up a more credible linguistic Miss Manners than Michael 'Rich Prick' Cullen?

That's something Cullen said in Parliament one day. This is a conscious attempt to raise public odium through the use of certain words.

Perhaps, but could the Government put up a more credible linguistic Miss Manners than Michael 'Rich Prick' Cullen?

Hey Craig you know that the ol' "National did this wrong but Labour also did something else wrong" defence, doesn't make Nationals actions right.

I'm one of those faceless bureaucrats and frankly…

National's use of the perjorative epithet "bureaucrat" for anyone who's not a nurse, teacher or cop is fatuous and offensive.

Perhaps, but could the Government put up a more credible linguistic Miss Manners than Michael 'Rich Prick' Cullen?

Classic 'playground' argument tactics; completely ignoring any points raised in opposition to his argument, personal attacks, crude language...Whaleoil seems like a real creep!