Editorial on Families Commission
The Press editorial on United Future’s prized Families Commission pulls no punches.
“It seems almost inevitable that a body almost no-one could see any need for, with an ill-defined make-work agenda of responsibilities, should wind up engaged in a self-damaging internal squabble”
“Few people were inclined to take this piece of bureaucratic waste seriously before this, even fewer will do so now.”
“The commission, with its six commissioners, chief executive (when it can find one it can work with), 24 support staff and $8 million of taxpayers’ money in its first year alone, was entirely Dunne’s brainchild. Its establishment was extorted out of Labour as the price for United Future’s vote on matters of confidence and supply. Dunne, whose sudden rise in popularity in the last election was because he was supposedly the voice of sturdy common sense, has never been able to explain satisfactorily what it is supposed to do, what improvements it can hope to bring to life in New Zealand. The commission itself is perhaps none too sure itself. Its first tangible exercise is to spend nearly $700,000 on an advertising campaign to find out “what makes families tick”, pretty good evidence that it is desperate for something worthwhile to do. “
Is it just me, or are the editorials becoming more strident? Month after month of scandals and waste must be having an effect.