The finance minister has taken a swing at foreign affairs officials saying their business class flights should not be protected from budget cuts, as she confirmed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was yet again exempt from her savings drive.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has constantly acted as a protection guard for his ministry, even at one point going above the Finance Minister’s head to negotiate chief-to-chief with the Prime Minister.
And he’s come out with another win now - the Finance Minister confirming the ministry is exempt from her 2% blanket baselines savings exercise, but has agreed to 5% cuts the next two years.
“My view is actually what the foreign affairs service can do in the same way that any other agency can do is make sure that its back office is efficient that it is not duplicating services across government, and yes we need great diplomats on the front line, but they, just like every New Zealander, are accountable, and that means spending taxpayer money well.”
Peters has laughed the suggestion of future savings off, saying those commitments don’t matter because there is an election in November.
