Parliament General Manager to retire

Joel George is going to retire next year as General Manager of The Parliamentary Service. He’s had a lot tougher ride in the job than his predecessors with the Auditor-General’s report into spending.

My only interaction with George was when an announcement was made on the Parliamentary Electronic Noticeboard that there would be Maori prayer sessions for half an hour (or something) every morning, and any staff member who wished to attend them to help relieve stress could do so during work hours.

I wrote to George proposing that the PS also give us time off to go to the Backbencher every afternoon, as this was also a very good way of relieving stress. I think I also suggested a subsidy would met with high levels of staff approval. I got a very unamused reply back!