PM's Presser - The Hollow Memo

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Ministry mergers are on the cards – but the PM is holding them very close to his chest.

Prime Minister John Key confirmed talk of departmental mergers at Monday’s post-cabinet press conference but said he did not have figures for estimated savings, job losses or exactly how many agencies were in the pipeline.

The Dominion Post Saturday reported Government plans to merge agencies within the ministries of Internal Affairs; Research, Science and Technology; and Agriculture and Forestry.

The Prime Minister confirmed the report but said it was not an ideological decision and no final decisions had been made.

New Zealand’s fragmentation and number of state agencies looked out of place with similar countries, he said.

“When you have large fragmentation you also have duplication of administrative and back office support functions.

“Taxpayers pay for that duplication; if we can eliminate it then that makes sense.”

The Government wanted more “customer-focused” departments and anticipated a two billion dollar investment in information technology over the next two years.

Key would not comment directly on the fate of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs but described it as New Zealand’s “Washington Monument” and a relatively small ministry .

“What I want ministers to focus on are where real gains can be made in greater efficiency and lower cost.”

But Key said the discussion paper did not indicate potential jobs lost, the number of staff that might be affected or estimated savings from the exercise.

“In the paperwork I’ve seen so far there’s no detailed cost savings, either capital or revenue.

“That’s not to say they’re not there – they’rejust not detailed at this time,” he said.

“It’s an open-end discussion,” he said.

Cabinet’s business committee would discuss the mergers later that evening and refer its decisions to Cabinet next Monday, he said.

The colourful comment came on the heels of an independent review of a 2008 police investigation into the emails sourced in author Nicky Hager’s 2005 expose of the National party election campaign.

Then-party leader Don Brash alleged the emails had been stolen from the party’s servers, demanded a police investigation and then filed with the Independent Police Complaints Authority when the investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing.

But Key told reporters he still believed the emails were stolen.

“I think the computer system was hacked into, but I can’t back that up.

Key said he had a “reasonable theory” who might have hacked the system.

He would not go into details, but said the conflicted party officials cited in the book were “ a great nonsense; a fiction put out by the left.”

“Bollocks is another way of putting it,” he said.

Key declined to comment on fax messages and diary entries also cited in the book.

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ENDS

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