This is the paucity of qualified engineers in key decision making roles. Cabinet and Councils are constantly making big decisions having to rely on consultants etc rather than by using their practical real world experience. Excessive reliance on consultants is foolish and expensive.
I have tried to find out how many qualified engineers there were in Parliament and ChatGPT gave me just ACT MPs David Seymour and Simon Court. There are other MPs with STEM qualifications but I do not know whether any have civil or other engineering degrees and experience. This is a massive intellectual/experience deficit for decision makers.
I asked ChatGPT for the number of Mayors with engineering qualifications which came up with just Auckland’s Wayne Brown and Nelson’s Nick Smith. There maybe more.
Parliament on the other hand many MPs with law degrees who are drawn to the political process for obvious reasons as well as many in the social area, including teaching and unions. A few farmers from the practical world.
In Wellington the lack of engineers at governance level has been exposed in three different areas. First the struggling “Wellington Water” had just one engineer on its board who replaced a CEO who departed after performance issues were raised. That left the board with no engineers which was remedied by the appointment of one new director with engineering experience. In my view there should be at least two engineers with relevant experience on the board of this entity and its successor from July 1, 2026.
The Moa Point disaster and the truly massive cost blowouts for the adjacent sludge minimisation plant also indicate a failure at governance level. It’s no good just blaming the Moa Point operator Veolia. The job of directors, in this case the WCC, is to hold contractors to account The WCC failed.
Of course it would be rather helpful if the WCC senior management team included a City Engineer. Someone who would sit next to the CEO along with the CFO. The Grant Thornton report showed the WCC is hopeless at managing contracts which mostly explains the massive cost overruns on projects like the old Town Hall rebuild etc, etc. Hopeless management like this means the WCC is inevitably rorted by contractors. Not one new project of consequence would be started until the WCC becomes a competent contractor.
NZ is not alone in having so many lawyers instead of engineers in its Parliament. A similar situation in Europe according to a BBC podcast I heard. China on the other hand is led by an engineer in President Xi and it shows. Auckland City has Wayne Brown who has used his real world engineering experience to upgrade the city.
My hope is NZ’s political parties will produce more engineers for Parliament so practical people can help make the critical infrastructure decisions necessary. Business as usual won’t cut the mustard.
Barrie Saunders has a background in Government Relations and blogs at www.barriesaunders.wordpress.com. - where this article was sourced.
I asked ChatGPT for the number of Mayors with engineering qualifications which came up with just Auckland’s Wayne Brown and Nelson’s Nick Smith. There maybe more.
Parliament on the other hand many MPs with law degrees who are drawn to the political process for obvious reasons as well as many in the social area, including teaching and unions. A few farmers from the practical world.
In Wellington the lack of engineers at governance level has been exposed in three different areas. First the struggling “Wellington Water” had just one engineer on its board who replaced a CEO who departed after performance issues were raised. That left the board with no engineers which was remedied by the appointment of one new director with engineering experience. In my view there should be at least two engineers with relevant experience on the board of this entity and its successor from July 1, 2026.
The Moa Point disaster and the truly massive cost blowouts for the adjacent sludge minimisation plant also indicate a failure at governance level. It’s no good just blaming the Moa Point operator Veolia. The job of directors, in this case the WCC, is to hold contractors to account The WCC failed.
Of course it would be rather helpful if the WCC senior management team included a City Engineer. Someone who would sit next to the CEO along with the CFO. The Grant Thornton report showed the WCC is hopeless at managing contracts which mostly explains the massive cost overruns on projects like the old Town Hall rebuild etc, etc. Hopeless management like this means the WCC is inevitably rorted by contractors. Not one new project of consequence would be started until the WCC becomes a competent contractor.
NZ is not alone in having so many lawyers instead of engineers in its Parliament. A similar situation in Europe according to a BBC podcast I heard. China on the other hand is led by an engineer in President Xi and it shows. Auckland City has Wayne Brown who has used his real world engineering experience to upgrade the city.
My hope is NZ’s political parties will produce more engineers for Parliament so practical people can help make the critical infrastructure decisions necessary. Business as usual won’t cut the mustard.
Barrie Saunders has a background in Government Relations and blogs at www.barriesaunders.wordpress.com. - where this article was sourced.
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