Penn Raine: Where are the spads when Chris Luxon needs them?

In the country formerly known as NZ there are no official spads or special advisors as there are in Britain.

The spad is an unelected position made by government ministers or local councils whose appointee will tell bosses what they want to hear and generally confirm all their prejudices. They are allegedly of a different stripe from the civil service which my sources amusingly describe as ‘neutral’ and unlikely to have political bias.

Bryan Leyland: Things you know that ain't so - Governments can rely on expert advisers

“Things you know that ain't so - Governments can rely on their expert advisers.” (To be honest, not many people now believe this but it seems that governments frequently do.)

In the last few days I have come across two serious derelictions of duty by people relied upon by the government to give sound advice based on the evidence.