Wise Not Keen To Be PS, Prefers Consultancy Work
The post has been advertised and then maybe somebody better than me will take it, I don’t know Peter Wise Acting Permanent Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and Foreign Affairs
Acting Permanent Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and Foreign Affairs, Peter Wise says he is not keen to become a PS.
He wanted to go out and do his consultancy work which he was doing previously before the lead up to the 2022 General Election. Mr Wise, who is a part of the Coalition Government’s transition team, was appointed as Acting PS on January 12 replacing Yogesh Karan who was appointed as PS Multi-ethnic Affairs and Sugar. “I’m appointed by the PSC (Public Service Commission). As you know PSC is an independent body so it’s between him (PSC chair Luke Rokovada) and the PM but I’m only acting until a substantive holder comes in,” Mr Wise said.
“The post has been advertised and then maybe, somebody better than me will take it, I don’t know.” Mr Wise served as PS under the Laisenia Qarase and Voreqe Bainimarama Government’s holding various portfolios including Trade and Commerce, OPM, Foreign Affairs and Finance. When questioned whether he had submitted his application to become a PS since the posts were advertised.
Mr Wise said: “I’m not keen. I want to go out and do my consultancy work.
“All I wanted is to be treated fairly. I had a very bad experience when I left in December 2015. I went home had a rest for six months I did some consultancy work for USP (University of the South Pacific), with Australian AID and then with SPC (The Pacific Community).”
He claimed that the previous government did not approve his consultancy work with the WHO (World Health Organisation) and ADB (Asian Development Bank) for reasons unknown to him, however he respected their decision. “If I’m better than you, I should get the consultancy work, if you’re better than me, you should get it. That’s all I want because there’s more money in consultancy,” he said.
Mr Wise revealed that in the lead up to elections, he was due to depart for Samoa to take up the post of Economic Advisor Financial Reform with the Samoan Prime Minister whom he worked with at Asian Development Bank (ADB). However, due to the elections he decided to stay and help out in the party.