The Press on Di Yates

The Press labels the four board appointments for Di Yates as a golden handshake:

In a bid to rejuvenate its greying ranks and stave off looming electoral disaster, Labour has been weeding out those it believes do not fit the image of youth and energy it wishes to present to voters at election time later this year. But for those given the shove it appears the Government is prepared to soften the blow by finding them lucrative positions elsewhere. At least that seems to be the conclusion one can draw from a succession of appointments bestowed on the former Labour backbencher, Dianne Yates. …

Now, however, out of the House, no fewer than four Cabinet ministers have lined up like midwinter Father Christmasses to give her jobs. The Food Safety Minister, Lianne Dalziell, appointed her to Food Standards Australia New Zealand (a prime qualification, according to the press release, was that Yates came from the Waikato, “arguably the food bowl of New Zealand”). The Minister of Finance, Michael Cullen, appointed her to Trust Waikato Community Trust. An Associate Minister of Finance, Clayton Cosgrove, and the Education Minister, Chris Carter, appointed her to the board of the education book publisher Learning Media, and Carter lined up again to give her a job on the board of the Waikato Institute of Technology.

All of these add up to about $80,000 a year, plus top-level travel and accommodation costs and various other tidbits, which will put Yates well above the income of the average New Zealand wage-earner. She no doubt has the skills that will make her admirably suited to these various positions. They will certainly cushion the pain of being nudged out of the House, if that is what happened. One Labour insider said it was the price Labour had to pay to get another Samoan into Parliament. The insider should have said it was the price the taxpayer has to pay.

What is especially outrageous over these appointments is that Yates was so lowly regarded by her own colleagues. I’m not trying to be nasty but in a poll for Cabinet she would come last or second last. She was not regarded as a strong performer by anyone in Parliament.

Having four seperate Ministerial appointments is obvious signs of a formal deal, rather than just a Minister thinking an ex-colleague would be a good fit for a Board.