Those that can, do. Those that cannot, regulate.
The Financial Markets Authority is an example. I took the afternoon to run through the career details of the board and senior leadership and, well, mostly they recruit lawyers and poach talent from other government agencies.
It is against this backdrop that I am going to tackle the defenestration of Craig Stobo; the former chair of the FMA.
Stobo was recruited by the excellent Andrew Bayly. A man who entered politics to get things done and whose political career was cut short possibly because he wanted to get things done.
Stobo is an experienced businessperson well known for his opinions. He initially turned down the opportunity to join the FMA board but was eventually press-ganged into service as its chair.
Now here I need to make a disclosure. As is appropriate. I know Craig Stobo. As I write this we are both at the same conference and we chatted over coffee this afternoon, though this column will come as a surprise.
I was on the NZ Initiative junket in Amsterdam that preceded his controversial trip to Estonia and he has attended at least one of my firms’ parties dressed as a pirate.
It is against this backdrop that I am going to tackle the defenestration of Craig Stobo; the former chair of the FMA.
Stobo was recruited by the excellent Andrew Bayly. A man who entered politics to get things done and whose political career was cut short possibly because he wanted to get things done.
Stobo is an experienced businessperson well known for his opinions. He initially turned down the opportunity to join the FMA board but was eventually press-ganged into service as its chair.
Now here I need to make a disclosure. As is appropriate. I know Craig Stobo. As I write this we are both at the same conference and we chatted over coffee this afternoon, though this column will come as a surprise.
I was on the NZ Initiative junket in Amsterdam that preceded his controversial trip to Estonia and he has attended at least one of my firms’ parties dressed as a pirate.
Andrew Bayly. Photo: ROBERT KITCHIN / Stuff
Good times. It is possible my objectivity is compromised. Thankfully; Waterstone is not regulated by the FMA. Let’s move on.
On the second of December last year three FMA board members went to the minister with a series of petty complaints against Stobo. One was that on a self-funded visit to Estonia Stobo was enjoying an inappropriate relationship with his travelling companion.
The woman in question was a former employee of the FMA. The operative word here is former. She was not working in a sector regulated by the FMA. The evidence was there wasn’t a personal relationship but even if there was, it would not have been inappropriate.
The FMA has deteriorated into a Mean Girls’ parody. It cannot regulate itself.
The minister ordered a KC Review. There were other complaints; mostly about conflicts of interest. All of which Stobo was cleared. The one issue that tripped him into resignation was his continued public commentary largely favourable to the Luxon government. And. Well. Whilst I’d have liked to claim this was wrong; it wasn’t.
Phil Goff and Robert Campbell, to cite two obvious examples, lost their public roles for similar offences. This is despite the KC’s report stating “…his avoidance of matters directly within the FMA’s statutory remit or that the comments were not made expressly in his FMA capacity.”
The civil service maintains the pretence of political neutrality and takes this illusion seriously. Stobo crossed a cultural norm that is obvious to the permanent bureaucratic class but considered ridiculous to outsiders. There were no external complaints about Stobo to the minister. The inmates rejected the warden appointed to manage their affairs.
Which brings me back to the NZ Initiative; who produced a report last week titled Who Runs the Country. Their answer is… the civil service.
The public service is run by the Public Service Commissioner who is appointed for a period of five years and once in office is a bit like the Pope. Only death or Napoleon remove them from office.
The Commissioner then appoints the Chief Executives of the various ministries. These executives report to the minister, listen to their instructions before proceeding to act in a manner consistent with their own beliefs confident that employment law and a culture of indolence insulates them from any consequences for disobedience.
Ministers come and go. The civil service hierarchy endures.
Dr Hartwich, the author of the Initiative report, writes; “The Public Service Commissioner appoints all chief executives. Ministers can indicate matters the Commissioner should take into account….They can be consulted. But the Commissioner chairs the interview panel and makes the decision.”
We compound this mess by failing to align ministries with ministers. Steven Joyce’s behemoth, MBIE, reports to over twenty ministers. It acts as an autonomous self-governing authority insulated from external discipline. Politicians have responsibility without authority.
Hartwich recommends allowing greater political control over the appointment and removal of senior executives and aligning ministers and ministries. Although the FMA isn’t a ministry under the control of the public service commissioner the fall of Stobo is illustrative of an institutional mindset that rejects ideas, individuals or instructions that do not accord with their own values.
It is time we confronted the reality that our civil service is neither politically neutral nor readily controllable by those we elect to run them. Democracy means allowing those elected to office the ability to govern. The architecture of our civil service prevents this.
One major complaint of ministers in the current regime is the obstruction of the civil service.......The full article is published HERE
Damien Grant is an Auckland business owner, a member of the Taxpayers’ Union and a regular opinion contributor for Stuff, writing from a libertarian perspective
Good times. It is possible my objectivity is compromised. Thankfully; Waterstone is not regulated by the FMA. Let’s move on.
On the second of December last year three FMA board members went to the minister with a series of petty complaints against Stobo. One was that on a self-funded visit to Estonia Stobo was enjoying an inappropriate relationship with his travelling companion.
The woman in question was a former employee of the FMA. The operative word here is former. She was not working in a sector regulated by the FMA. The evidence was there wasn’t a personal relationship but even if there was, it would not have been inappropriate.
The FMA has deteriorated into a Mean Girls’ parody. It cannot regulate itself.
The minister ordered a KC Review. There were other complaints; mostly about conflicts of interest. All of which Stobo was cleared. The one issue that tripped him into resignation was his continued public commentary largely favourable to the Luxon government. And. Well. Whilst I’d have liked to claim this was wrong; it wasn’t.
Phil Goff and Robert Campbell, to cite two obvious examples, lost their public roles for similar offences. This is despite the KC’s report stating “…his avoidance of matters directly within the FMA’s statutory remit or that the comments were not made expressly in his FMA capacity.”
The civil service maintains the pretence of political neutrality and takes this illusion seriously. Stobo crossed a cultural norm that is obvious to the permanent bureaucratic class but considered ridiculous to outsiders. There were no external complaints about Stobo to the minister. The inmates rejected the warden appointed to manage their affairs.
Which brings me back to the NZ Initiative; who produced a report last week titled Who Runs the Country. Their answer is… the civil service.
The public service is run by the Public Service Commissioner who is appointed for a period of five years and once in office is a bit like the Pope. Only death or Napoleon remove them from office.
The Commissioner then appoints the Chief Executives of the various ministries. These executives report to the minister, listen to their instructions before proceeding to act in a manner consistent with their own beliefs confident that employment law and a culture of indolence insulates them from any consequences for disobedience.
Ministers come and go. The civil service hierarchy endures.
Dr Hartwich, the author of the Initiative report, writes; “The Public Service Commissioner appoints all chief executives. Ministers can indicate matters the Commissioner should take into account….They can be consulted. But the Commissioner chairs the interview panel and makes the decision.”
We compound this mess by failing to align ministries with ministers. Steven Joyce’s behemoth, MBIE, reports to over twenty ministers. It acts as an autonomous self-governing authority insulated from external discipline. Politicians have responsibility without authority.
Hartwich recommends allowing greater political control over the appointment and removal of senior executives and aligning ministers and ministries. Although the FMA isn’t a ministry under the control of the public service commissioner the fall of Stobo is illustrative of an institutional mindset that rejects ideas, individuals or instructions that do not accord with their own values.
It is time we confronted the reality that our civil service is neither politically neutral nor readily controllable by those we elect to run them. Democracy means allowing those elected to office the ability to govern. The architecture of our civil service prevents this.
One major complaint of ministers in the current regime is the obstruction of the civil service.......The full article is published HERE
Damien Grant is an Auckland business owner, a member of the Taxpayers’ Union and a regular opinion contributor for Stuff, writing from a libertarian perspective
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