Wintringham WINZ report shows need for State sector overhaul
The Alliance says the State Services Commissioner's report on the WINZ charter fiasco is ineffectual and shows the need
for complete overhaul of State sector management and accountability.
'Mr Wintringham's report shows that there are deep problems with State sector management and there isn't enough
accountability,' Alliance social security spokesperson Grant Gillon said.
'But even worse, the report shows that even when problems are discovered, not much gets done about it.
'The finding that there was no evid ence of any understanding within WINZ about what was an acceptable level of
expenditure is damning.
'This is another way of saying that WINZ management can't tell the difference between right and wrong.
'How can a salary of $220,000 for Mrs Rankin be justified when she was not even able to impose basic financial
discipline on her department? How can WINZ Minister Roger Sowry duck responsibility for his own officials running amok
with the taxpayers' cheque book?'The G! overnment has to take political responsibility for this.
A succession of State sector Ministers, including the Prime Minister herself have allowed State sector management to
fall to such a substandard level.
'The whole philosophy of State sector reorganisation is brought into question by this outcome. For a decade New
Zealanders have been told that 'inputs don't matter. It's only outputs that count.
' Now we have confirmation from the State Services Commissioner that State sector management took that philos ophy as a
licence to spend whatever they wanted.
'It is outrageous that ordinary WINZ staff and beneficiaries who rely on WINZ for an income must struggle to get by
while WINZ management guzzle deeply in the public trough and don't have the faintest idea of the difference between
right and wrong.
'The Alliance will hold a full review of State sector management and accountability, including a review of the
ineffectiveness of the State Service Commission, and the loss of a ! public service ethic,' Grant Gillon said.
ENDS