While Case L waits for an apology, the govt announces support for women’s rugby and an extension of wage subsidies

Our Beehive Bulletin

The news we expected to find – no, the news we thought we might find – was not there when we checked the Beehive website this morning.

It was an acknowledgement from our kindly PM that maybe she had been a tad unkindly when she failed to hide her frustration about the Covid-19 community case who had gone to work at KFC Botany instead of isolating at home.

What we did find was news that –

• The Government remains committed to hosting the Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in 2022 should a decision be made by World Rugby this weekend to postpone this year’s tournament.
• The Government has confirmed details of COVID-19 support for business and workers following the increased alert levels due to a resurgence of the virus over the weekend.  This extends the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme.

Here at Point of Order, we were mindful of a Stuff report which suggested the PM was peeved with an Auckland woman.  The headline read – Covid-19: PM says KFC worker’s family contacted 15 times via text and phone 

The Auckland woman perhaps has cause to be peeved, too, because she  reckons she was unfairly singled out by Jacinda Ardern for not self-isolating.

Lessons in public service ethics are praiseworthy – but why link them with the Beehive?

The teaching of public service ethics is admirable. Accordingly we approve the expansion and changes to the Australia and New Zealand School of Government which include a newly created chair in public service ethics and integrity at Victoria University of Wellington.

But it is called the New Zealand Prime Minister’s ANZSOG Chair in Public Sector Ethics and Integrity, a more problematic proposition. Besides being a gob-stopping mouthful, the association of ethics and integrity with politicians – no matter how Right Honourable an incumbent PM might be – is fraught.

Politicians such as Housing Minister Phil Twyford have made no secret of their contempt for some public servants. Questioning Treasury’s estimates around KiwiBuild in the Budget, he said he did not agree with the “questionable assumptions” used and:

“I just think some of these kids in Treasury are fresh out of university and they’re are completely disconnected from reality.”