Justifying the appointment

Lianne Dalziel has appointed former Labour List MP Dianne Yates to the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Board. Yates stood for election last October to the Hamilton City Council and filed to even get elected as a City Councillor despite being an MP at the time.

So why did Lianne appoint Yates:

Dianne is ideally suited to this role on all levels. She’s from the Waikato, arguably the food bowl of New Zealand …

Yes, her qualification is she lives in Hamilton, and Hamilton is in the Waikato and Waikato grows a lot of food, so hence she is qualified to sit on the Food Standards Board of Australia and New Zealand.

You really know they are stretched for justification, when they have to rely on “She’s from the Waikato”.

And what do we pay Ms Yates for her hard work:

According to the Australian Remuneration Tribunal, Ms Yates will be paid $A30,000 ($NZ38,440) a year and reimbursed for first and business class travel as well as accommodation and other expenses.

FSANZ’s last annual report said most board members attended about five meetings last year.

Wow first class travel just to cross the Tasman. And $8,000 per meeting. Not bad.

If there is a change of Government, I would like to be considered for appointment to the FSANZ. My qualifications are I live near Boudeaux Bakery in Thorndon and they sell food. We also have a Subway down the road.