Public service must stay in Wellington
Castration of foreign ministry in the hands of the ignorant
Former foreign affairs minister Phil Goff is right when he calls the restructuring of the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry (MFAT) ‘‘a shambles’’.
Who in his or her right mind would be prepared to uproot children from their schools and friends, to destroy a partner’s career structure and leave the family home to the frequently thoughtless hands of tenants in order to serve in a diplomatic post where partners work as counsellors, charity workers, mediators, interpreters, cooks and bottle washers for no recompense, with the very real likelihood of no employment for either adult on their return?
The basis for this shambles lies not only with an unsympathetic minister but with a chief executive who has no knowledge or experience of service overseas.
This Government has put the castration of MFAT into the hands of the ignorant. GILLIAN GREEN
Epuni Is it true that Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce wants to move all government departments from Wellington to Auckland?
So far he has transferred 300 from Wellington to an 0800 service based in Auckland and now I read he plans to transfer the Economic Development, and Science and Innovation ministries there, too (March 13). The public service is the hub of Wellington and needs to remain there.
Auckland has had so much government support – it’s poured billions into that city – that New Zealand has become a one-city country. JOY WATSON
Taita aberration as reasonable proof of my concern.
If well-qualified engineers can suggest there’s no insuperable problem of reconstructing this church to a high standard of earthquakeproofing, nothing less should be conceivable.
A national lottery and donations would surely raise sufficient funds?
And if it took 10 years to build, or 20, so what? Didn’t many European cathedrals take hundreds of years to complete?
Perhaps modern society can no longer construct worthwhile projects for an indeterminate future; instead, everything must be measured and judged only by its capacity for our immediate gratification. Dr JOHN MONRO
Hataitai to development, yet retaining a measure of control, and a perpetual income stream for the owners. GRAEME FOSTER
Papakowhai