Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive 1/8/24

Govt dishes up funds for oyster festival in the north – but what about the oyster festival down south?

Another day, another trough. Attention was drawn to this one by Matt Doocey, the same fellow who yesterday was calling for applications for the Government’s first round (good for $5 million) of the new $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund.

David Farrar: The operating model should precede the decision

The Herald reports:

The chief executive of the sprawling, partially amalgamated polytechnic and training institute Te Pūkenga (the New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology) left the organisation in January with a golden handshake.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 8/12/23

Willis fails a taxing app-titude test but govt supporters will cheer moves on Te Pukenga and the Human Rights Commission

The Minister of Defence has returned from Noumea to announce New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting and (wearing another ministerial hat) to condemn malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government.

A bigger cheer from people who voted for the Luxon government is likely to be generated by news that the process of disestablishing Te Pūkenga is under way.

Brian Easton: The Fashion For Generic Management Is Not Working.

The public service is suffering from the downgrading of the role of professionals, experts and those at the workface with the public.

There is a management fashion that believes that by imposing layers of generic managers, public spending will become more efficient because they will control the professionals, who cannot be trusted. It is true that professionals often have objectives which are dismissive of fiscal considerations – objectives like the welfare of those they are working for – and that some cannot be trusted not to act in their commercial interests. But there is surprisingly little evidence that the layers of generic management have worked well – most managers are not very good at evaluating themselves – and there are numerous anecdotes of them adding to costs with bullshit jobs or those which actually reduce the effectiveness of the professionals on the front line.