Tuesday, 14 January 2025 11:25

Cut the fat!

Written by The Hound

font size decrease font size increase font size
Print
Email

OPINION: Finance Minister Nicola Willis has targeted cuts in the public service to balance the books, particularly the spend on consultants, drawing trenchant criticism from... consultants.

The Hound notes Willis set the public service a target of eliminating $400 million in operating expenditure on contractors and consultants by 2024/25.

In 2023/24, savings of $274 million were achieved.

Last year the public service was on track, after the first quarter, to achieve savings of about $500 million - savings forecast to continue over the next three quarters, which means savings over the two-year period could total more than $800 million.

It shows operational expenditure by departments on contractors and consultants fell a further 46% in the September quarter on an annualised basis.

Great news, unless you're an overpaid consultant!

More like this

True Reflection?

A fair question has been raised about how member-funded organisations should conduct themselves when taking a public position on any given issue.

Stuffed!

The canine crusader always has his nose in the air for more media maleficence, so was pointing as soon as he saw the Stuff headline: ‘Wellington residents respond to PM saying he doesn’t need his job!’.

Civil Circus!

OPINION: It really is getting harder to lampoon government bureaucrats when they do such a good job of it themselves.

Anyone in the primary sector will know about the clowns covering the countryside in the red tape we all have to wade through.

Spare a thought then for media outfit Stuff who were threatened with fines up to $200,000 by a snivelling civil servant from the MoH for illustrating a quiz question with a photo of part of the cover of a 45-year-old copy Playboy.

As Stuff notes, “It wasn’t the Playboy cover which caused offence. No, it was the back page which… featured an advert for a cigarette brand”.

As Regulations Minister David Seymour notes, “The real scandal here is, well, no wonder we’ve got problems in healthcare when they’re doing the Stuff quiz during work time.”

Ewe Zealand First

OPINION: After all the criticism that Winston Peters leveled at the India/NZ FTA, it seemed just a trifle ironic to the Hound that the first NZ politician to visit India after Prime Minister Modi's visit was a member of the Ewe Zealand First party.

AgriZeroNZ Launches $51m Emissions Accelerator

AgriZeroNZ is ramping up efforts to accelerate the uptake of emissions reduction tools on farm with a new initiative to help more farmers put proven tools into practice.

Featured

No Party Has an Organics Policy, OANZ Warns Ahead of Vote

Organics Aotearoa New Zealand (OANZ) spent two days in Wellington last week meeting political parties and key stakeholders to press the case for a National Organic Policy and dedicated investment.

Ravensdown Returns to Profit, Approves $15/Tonne Shareholder Rebate

Ravensdown has reported a net profit before tax and rebate of $50.1 million for the year ended 31 May 2026.

Peter Reynolds Awarded Horticulture NZ's Bledisloe Cup

Potatoes New Zealand has congratulated Peter Reynolds of TA Reynolds Ltd in Pukekohe on being awarded the Horticulture New Zealand Bledisloe Cup, recognising a lifetime of service and contribution to New Zealand horticulture.

Sharemilkers Credit DairyBase Tool for Staffing Decisions

Signing up to a benchmarking tool is not about competition, but about improving collectively, says Ximena Puig and Alvaro Luzardo who are 50-50 sharemilkers at a 164-hectare (effective) dairy farm in Eketāhuna in the Lower North Island.