Diplomacy and the art of reform
‘The mandarins of the diplomatic service are as capable of digging in their toes as an Auckland wharfie. What is more, their collective power seems to have some sway.’
minor end of the scale, New Zealand’s premier offshore agency struggles along on a lot of paperbased systems.
Its embrace of digital technology has been slow, hampered by a security-conscious culture of discretion rather than the openness.
Washington Ambassador Mike Moore’s new Twitter account was, by all accounts, hard-won. More importantly, MFAT appears to have missed most of the modern management practice of the last 30 years.
For a start, the three-year system of rotating staff through Wellington and foreign postings discourages not only planned careers, but also good performance management. Why bother dealing with a troublesome staffer when they will be leaving shortly anyway?
MFAT also rewards staff more on seniority than on ability, creating a kind of internal class system, which is wrong for a supposedly egalitarian society.
MFAT’S supporters, and there are many, will argue that those on the outside ‘‘don’t understand’’ what staff do, that the system is this way because it has to be. Well, that is what they said about subsidised sheep farming and local car assembly.
At a certain pleading.
What is hurting diplomats most is the savage pruning Mr Allen proposes on payments while on foreign postings. It is an act of faith among MFAT employees that while the money is not great when they are posted to Wellington, the gravy comes offshore.
Spouses are paid a 20 per cent loading on their MFAT partner’s salary, along with 7.5 per cent per child for no more than two children.
On top of this, accommodation, education, health and other major living costs are met while offshore. In return, the spouse becomes an extension of the MFAT entourage and often cannot work in the foreign country, even if they want to.
Mr Allen’s proposals would hack back those loadings, but leave most of the other benefits intact, and treat MFAT spouses much the same as Defence Force spouses who have to live overseas for their country.
In the end, however, it is true that marrying a diplomat is a great way to destroy your own career, and diplomats, being generally smart people, tend to marry other smart people. There is an argument for some recognition of that in offshore postings.
Mr Key signalled this week that those concerns are likely to be met, and oil poured on troubled waters.
For a prime minister launching a mission to ‘‘transform’’ the public service, he will be praying it works.
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