Shane Jones wants a US style public service

One of the reasons the US is in such dire straits is it doesn’t have a neutral public service like we do in NZ. All the top officials are political appointments.

Well Shane Jones wants us to go down the same path. Stuff reports:

Cabinet Minister Shane Jones, says he would like to “soften that line” between governance and the bureaucracy, including allowing ministers to appoint top officials.

Because he wants officials who will not give free and frank advice. He just wants sycophants.

In an interview on the provincial growth fund Jones, the Regional Development Minister railed against a bureaucratic system he characterised as a “treacle-riddled”, slowing down process around funding economic projects, without evidence of improved efficiency.

This is risible as if he had listened to his officials he wouldn’t have ended up handing out so much dud money.

Jones said his comments were not Government policy and were “not consistent with the State Services Act” but were ones he would like to campaign on in the future.

So if this current Government is returned, one of the trade offs might be a neutral public service. Will the PSA speak up?