Thursday, March 22, 2018
Public service for private gain
National MP Jonathan Coleman is quitting politics. Good riddance. But what's concerning is that having spent three years ruining the public health system as Minister of Health, he's gone straight to work for a private healthcare provider which exists because of his party's continuous vandalism. Most charitably, he's seeking to use the knowledge gained in public service for private gain. But bluntly, it looks like a payoff, a reward for boosting their business by making the public health system suck. And neither is acceptable. Again, we need legislation to stop this revolving door and to limit post-career conflicts of interest by politicians. We already prohibit former Immigration Ministers from working in the immigration sector for 12 months. Its time we did that to other Ministers as well.