Simon O'Connor: Accountability lost

With apologies to John Milton for misusing his title, but does New Zealand have an accountability issue? Recent events suggest the answer is yes, and our democracy is the poorer for this.

Accountability is a cornerstone of a successful democracy. Yet it is rarely discussed, particularly when public debate is increasingly dominated by topics such as artificial intelligence, social media, and the causes of political division.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: The New Mandarinate

In November 2018, officials at Immigration New Zealand began work on replacing the ageing biometric systems that verify identities and manage immigration risk. Seven years later it was dead, having delivered no measurable benefit. Nobody can yet say what it cost.

Kerre Woodham: What will it take for public servants to be held accountable?

What will it take for public servants to be held accountable for their most egregious mistakes? Not even talking the little faffy silly ones. We're talking really, really big mistakes. Never was a group of people more misnamed than public servants. The current generation are not servants of the public, for the most part – many of them appear to have absolute contempt for the public they are supposed to serve.

Bob Edlin: What state services can learn from Fonterra......

What state services can learn from Fonterra: bigger isn’t always better and merging might not make us better off

Streamlining is one thing. Merging is another.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis drew attention to this when discussing the Government’s public-sector policy objectives yesterday:

Dr Michael John Schmidt: Ignoring government policies with impunity.

On 10 November, I went to the LinkedIn employment section and saw the following role advertised.

David Lillis and Peter Schwerdtfeger: Enhancing Science, Innovation and Technology in New Zealand

The Science System Advisory Group has been established by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment in order to provide advice to Government on science, innovation and technology. It will review challenges and aspirations of the sector and its structure, efficiency and effectiveness. A two-part report will be published; the first delivered end of June and the second in October. The first part will focus on principles for the sector and providing advice and recommendations. The second will provide final recommendations and advice on long-term changes in order to ensure the future success of science in New Zealand.

John Raine, David Lillis, Peter Schwerdtfeger: Respecting Rutherford and Cook

 Why Cancel One of New Zealand’s Greatest Scientists?

Why was it necessary to cancel the names of two people so important to our history? Two figurative statues have just been knocked down.

 

Shortly before this year’s election, MBIE announced [1] the replacement from 2024 of the research excellence-focused Rutherford and James Cook Fellowships with the Aotearoa New Zealand Tāwhia te Mana Research Fellowships, as follows:

Greg Ninness: More than 14,000 overseas workers and 12,000 overseas students arrived in New Zealand during July

The number of people arriving in New Zealand on work visas declined for the second month in a row in July.

According to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE), 14,238 people arrived on work visas in July, down from 16,878 in June and 17,319 in May.

That may signal the rapid growth in the number of overseas workers coming to NZ that occurred since pandemic border restrictions were eased, is starting to slow.