State Services Minister Trevor Mallard told Parliament today that two-thirds of payments made this year to the law firm
Buddle Findlay related to work started by the previous National-led administration.
"Of the $933,000 paid to Buddle Findlay, two thirds of this was spending put in train prior to December 1999, when the
Labour-Alliance coalition became government," Trevor Mallard said.
"I was very surprised to see that Bill English was attacking a firm which his government regarded as a leader in its
field – especially when his spending on consultants was profligate and this government has been relatively frugal."
Trevor Mallard said a further irony was that the questions Bill English had used as his dodgy ammunition were asked by
former Housing Minister Murray McCully.
"Yet of the $312,000 of work for Housing New Zealand in the last year, $303,000 related to contracts let under the
National Government.
"I’m not surprised that Murray McCully gave the bullets to Bill English, but I understand Jim Bolger’s message to Bill
English is not to use McCully as a numbers man. This fiasco shows he can’t count."
Trevor Mallard said Bill English showed he was in even more of a muddle given that from July to November last year, when
Mr English was Treasurer, Treasury spent a quarter of a million dollars on services from Buddle Finlay.
"Since this government came to power, $53,000 of new work has been commissioned by Treasury from Buddle Findlay. A
further $69,000 has been spent on contracts already let by Mr English and his predecessors.
"When asked about the timing of the contracts, no wonder he said: 'I don't think that matters that much'," Trevor
Mallard said.