Today a group of academics are discussing constitutional reform at parliament. Meanwhile, by stealth, and without any sort of consultation the National government has begun a major constitutional change, by undermining the very principle of a politically neutral public service.
They've done this by getting the Secretary of the Treasury to appoint a governance board. According to its charter [PDF], the board will advise on "strategic direction", performance, and the quality of advice. It will also provide advice directly to the Minister of Finance on some matters. The former undermines the accountability regime of the State Sector Act (in which the Chief Executive of a department is accountable to the Minister, who is accountable to parliament, who are accountable to us), while direct advice (and overseeing the "quality" of advice - meaning ideological censorship) undermines the principle of a neutral, professional public service.
The members of this board are not public servants. They are not subject to the public sector's Standards of Integrity and Conduct. They are not there to give professional, neutral, free and frank advice to the government of the day. Instead, they are professional businessmen, there to impose an ideological agenda on Treasury which will undermine its ability to provide advice to future governments. And that is an absolute disaster for our public service.
Some things are bigger than party politics. The principle of a neutral public service is one of them. And if National stands opposed to that, then it stands opposed to every single one of us. This experiment must be reversed, or National has to go. Otherwise, we are looking at a US-style politicised public service. And that serves none of us, only politicians.
