Right wing soy boi Ben Thomas makes a devastating critique of the right wing claims of tribal and racist nepotism…
Nanaia Mahuta has been scrupulous. She deserves better than a whitewash
Discussing the alleged conflicts, which mostly involve a range of contracts entered into between Ko Awatea, a consultancy run by Mahuta’s husband Gannin Ormsby, and various Crown agencies where Mahuta had (unrelated, associate) ministerial responsibilities, requires a few disclaimers. Online in particular, the issue has attracted appalling racism, unacceptable whatever the substance of the issues.
There is one example of a clear-cut breach of the Cabinet manual, which was identified by the ACT party to little attention. That is Mahuta’s appointment, during her term as Māori development minister, of Waimirirangi Ormsby, whom Mahuta’s husband identified as his niece, to the ill-fated technical advisory group reviewing New Zealand’s response to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The appointment carried a fee of around $44,000.
There is some grey area in terms of who counts as a “close family member” under the Cabinet manual, and familial terms like “uncle” can be used in a much looser way within Māoridom than may apply to the Western nuclear family unit, but self-identification by the minister’s family should suffice to make it an open and shut case. Mahuta should receive a warning, and apologise.
It seems unlikely the inquiry will find any inappropriate intervention by Mahuta in the other examples. The contracts, totalling about $200,000 across a variety of agencies over a couple of years, are for projects at a level far below ministerial notice. She was at no time the minister responsible for the areas in which contracts were awarded. The sheer number of layers through which a self-serving minister would have to wade in order to interfere in procurement makes it seem a remote prospect.
…Ben Thomas is a right wing commentator, his analysis is in stark contrast to the breathless panting by the Right who see Nanaia’a Whānau gaining these contracts as the end of Western Civilisation.
For the political Left (not middle class woke Identitarians) Nanaia Mahuta’s consultancies aren’t the issue, it’s Labour’s $1billion on them that is!
A Million dollars a day is spent on motels for vulnerable people causing enormous social carnage with no real wrap around support services present (as we saw on TVNZs Sunday) and 27 000 are on emergency waiting lists – we can’t solve those problems apparently but the Government can spend a billion dollars on consultants each year?
$1bn spend on consultants each year
“Labour’s spending on contractors and consultants has climbed to nearly $1bn a year, despite Labour coming to power suggesting that they would rein in this use of the private sector. Much of this is spent on the “Big Four” contractor firms – Deloitte, PwC, KPMG and Ernst and Young.”
What the hell has happened to left wing transformative change?
Since becoming the Associate Minister for Housing, Maram Davidson has issued just eight press releases and introduced no new laws, if Labour are missing in action, where the hell are the Greens?
You can not spend a billion dollars a year on the professional managerial class in consulting while 150 499 children live in extreme poverty, while we hand out 100 000 food packages each month while our suicide rates soar.
You can’t spend a billion dollars a year on consultants while so many are in material hardship.
Jacinda’s neokindness isn’t enough, if you aren’t forcing the Wellington Bureaucratic Elite into radical reform, they play you and stymie your agenda.
Jacinda’s neo-kindness is a cautionary political failure of obscene proportions.
To paraphrase Tennessee Ernie Ford,
You work 16 hours, what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt St. Jacinda, don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go I owe my soul to the the company store
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So Martyn. From memory the figure under Nationals time was something close to 700mil? That I think was using comparable definitions of contractors and consultants as they used to exclude something like 10 agencies. The figure is now something like 940mil.
Under a NAT Act government I will be very surprised if the figure plummets. National use to cap spend on headcount for public service so they had to go contractors. I guarantee they will cut ministries and then use third parties instead. “Business” minded types love consultants/contractors . Where do you think a lot of the 120mil on scam p testing went.
I don’t think anyone (other than the consultants) wants wasteful spend (and even that becomes opinionated) but some of the reporting makes it sound like this will all disappear under NAT/ ACT. History shows otherwise.
yes it would be good to do better than both the left and right wings of the uniparty
The lefties and woke championed the 1 million a day spent on hotels because they cancelled the working class landlords and private housing, championed the ‘swapping for free’ Kiwibuild land to be privatised, championed the largest mass immigration in the world of very low wages, low skills, high dependancy and put all their eggs in one basket that foreign and rich business builders, without strict zoning and planning rules would be better.
If they bothered to look at the UK they would already know, it wouldn’t work.
‘If they bothered to look at the UK they would already know, it wouldn’t work’
that’s exactly why they did it, ineffective interventions in the housing market have the appearance of doing something whilst doing nothing….job done
Not so worried about Nanaia Mahuta contracts which sound quite small, more worried about the billions spent of big 4 consultants everywhere championing the right wing agendas which their victims, the taxpayers, pay for.
Political failure of obscene proportions.
That in a sentence describes Jacinda Ardern.
We should give Nanaia Mahuta the benefit of doubt until the investigation is completed.
it’s NOT an investigation. It’s a review. Great sleight of hand there by our dodgy government. Not all contracts are being reviewed and for Mahuta’s role to be fully examined it needs to be upgraded to an investigation. This of course will not happen as Ardern will then be called to account. Labour will lie forever to cover her arse!
Unable to dispute any of that Shona.
Thanks Shona a review which is a white wash that will see Mahuta come out squeaky clean.
Cannot see a senior Labour Minister as acting fraudulently.
Money well spent…Look at the results……
Yes the money spent on consultants is one of the reasons I don’t support Labour. An outrageous amount of money. Just give it to the poor and cut out the middleman.
I do think there is something to answer for that Mahuta’s family have been given so many contracts. What are her husbands qualifications to run a suicide prevention workshop? Why in his contracting did he quote $2000 for Nainaia to talk on the workshop (o.k. someone in the govt didn’t allow that expenditure, but shouldn’t that have rang alarm bells?)
But but but! Saint Cindy cares! Saint Cindy is your friend!
Ugh! I’d rather vote National, not that I will.
Dead wood is what you get when you have a functioning bureaucracy within a healthy democracy. Otherwise, it isn’t a democratic bureaucracy, it’s business. And we all know what business does, right? Business, does business and it’s that which has brought us to this nightmarish point in our history.
Russell Brand. YouTube
Different-different but same.
https://youtu.be/-vZM3m_om9Y
“A new report reveals that 20% of Congress trade shares in the industries they’re supposed to be overseeing AND Democrats are trying to delay a ban on insider trading. Still, the pandemic is “over” and Putin is threatening nuclear Armageddon – so nothing to see here! “
So basically Nanaia Mahuta done nothing wrong!! NZ citizens need to understand our history concerning her family contribution to NZ society. If it wasn’t for her Whanau NZ settlers and their descendants would be in a far precarious situation then they currently enjoy.
so snouts in the trough is ok then stephen? on the grounds of grandad did something…
rubbish Stephen! The Mahuta whanau are skilled political operators for sure but that is all! FFS your one eye needs to broaden it’s severely narrow perspective.
Spot on new view!
“The people with the power are the faceless fucks behind the scenes and their first priority is keeping themselves at the trough.” Describes the Mahuta clan perfectly!
Using more consultants isn’t doing nothing wrong.
Don’t get it Stephen how or why would we be in a far precarious situation?
yes labours unsupervised spending on ‘consultants'(and that’s a kind word) is a very real issue but how she disbursed those funds to family and friends is also a big issue.
Martyn is shining a light onto a growing problem. Governments from both sides are using more consultants. This Government has turned it into an art form. Because our politicians are career driven but many not having life skills, they rely on consultants who themselves have no life skills except number crunching. Our politicians have turned into advice takers and PR spinners. The people with the power are the faceless fucks behind the scenes and their first priority is keeping themselves at the trough. I don’t know what the answer is but this lot are spending a shit load of money with not much to show for it.
spot on NV
@New+view, Hear, hear, all political parties and councils and government departments and SOE’s and COO’s need fewer consultants but better ones more and remove all the excessive “consultants who themselves have no life skills except number crunching” to advise them!
Having 1000+ PR people for example in government and councils! Crazy, what is wrong with having 1 or 2 exceptional PR people – cheaper and probably get a better result, closer to public opinion than the 998 spares trying to make themselves relevant or lost in space but still getting a taxpayer funded pay cheque and adding more noses into the trough.
Spot on new view!
“The people with the power are the faceless fucks behind the scenes and their first priority is keeping themselves at the trough.” Describes the Mahuta clan perfectly!
” You can’t spend a billion dollars a year on consultants while so many are in material hardship.
Jacinda’s neokindness isn’t enough, if you aren’t forcing the Wellington Bureaucratic Elite into radical reform, they play you and stymie your agenda.
Jacinda’s neo-kindness is a cautionary political failure of obscene proportions.
Well c’mon Bomber MANA NOW ! Your best friend is never deliver anything ….Ever
When 4 goverment departments hire the same family consultantancy firm using no bid contracts you gotta think they all know which way the winds blowing and who the need hire to know the correct agenda. Winston called it a gravy train.
Meanwhile McKinsey, EarnstYoung et al are on an accountants gravy train raking in millions and no doubt there are brothers, sisters, mates, of politicians, top civil servants and party cardres receiving contracts. How much of the $billion on consultants is no bid rather than contestable? How much is revolving door where a recently excivilservant gets the contract?
You would think that the politician could just hire a couple of very smart people into their departments to plan and implement the goverments policy – the one the party and the politicians came up with in a manifesto.
Still $1billion would only have built 2000 State Houses. But accumulating state assets would never be on a consultancy firms agenda.
Well spotted Bomber. Personally I don’t give a fat rats backside about the Mahuta family and allegations of cronyism (although having spent time in Latin America I can assure you that such ‘grey areas’ quickly become black and white corruption if not nipped in the bud). What I do care deeply about – is this profligate and bloated stomach of cozy consultants and the well-paid bureaucrats feeding them ever more. That is 1B that could have gone on homeless, poor kids, more nurses, more teachers – THAT IS THE BIG STORY HERE – an appalling waste of taxes and frittering away of government revenues this ‘pigs trough of consultation’.
” Mahuta’s consultancies aren’t the issue, it’s Labour’s $1billion on them that is”
Actually, it’s both in equal measure: Loss of control of state finances AND patently obvious corruption.
When you call in consultants it’s an admission you don’t know what to do.
Looking at Ardern and her lineup it comes as no surprise. They are incompetent not fit for office,out of their depth.
The old saying the consultant borrows your watch to tell you the time.
Is there any wonder as to why there are so many anti govt movements out there, the ones that created the protest on parliament lawn, too long do they ignore the poor of NZ, none of these politicians really want to help them step up and get on with life, its constantly having to wait for things, and then when you get it its an inadequate amount of lacks certain supports. It seems they create more policy to prevent the poor moving forward than actually helping them.
We saw that when they did a review into poverty with 24 recommendations and still we’re waiting on the govt moving forward on even one of those recommenations. Then covid hit and within weeks had organised subsidies for business and a gold plated unemployment scheme for the working class.
The govt is great at handing out money to those who need it the least while walking over the people who do speaks volumes, particularly from a govt that professes to be a party for the working class the the poor/disabled, its all fake, they’re no different to National, just say things in a different way.