Friday, 16 May 2008

State Service, Public Service or Self Service?

“The current debacle involving Immigration NZ and the resignation of its chief executive Mary-Anne Thompson raises serious questions about whether the culture of the once proud and politically independent public service has actually become more self serving than anything else," says The Kiwi Party leader Larry Baldock.

"I believe many Kiwis are struggling to understand how Ms Thompson can be allowed to resign and collect her 3 months pay when all these allegations are surfacing about her own potentially corrupt activities and her failure to lead the organisation properly.

If the woman stacking shelves at the supermarket was found to have broken the rules set by her employer she would never have been given the benefit of a resignation with all her perks and benefits kept intact," he said.

Mr Baldock said that when the State Services commission was created 20 years ago a subtle change within the public service may have occurred.

"Are we now seeing the fruit of that in the perception of many employees that they are now serving the State and their political masters rather than you and I, the public of New Zealand who are their real employers?

Of course there are still some fine public servants who know their real calling and their reward is in doing the best each day for others,' admits Mr Baldock, "but a recent report that showed that the Government employees are being paid $7 an hour more than their equivalents in the private sector is a concern.

With those higher salaries and contracts that protect their backsides in the event of their failures, I think any Kiwi could be forgiven for thinking that the creation of the State Services Commission developed an environment where some public servants have become self serving incompetent unprincipled ratbags,” said the Kiwi Party leader.

ENDS

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