English defends hiring ministerial 'spies'

National has defended the appointment of a new breed of political appointee - purchase advisers - who have helped rookie ministers learn "the tricks" of the public service and to cut departmental budgets.

Labour has accused National of not showing the restraint it is demanding of others and of hiding the cost of these new ministerial advisers by making departments pay for them.

These people have been hired by big-spending ministries at the instigation of Finance Minister Bill English. The ministries of Justice, Education, Social Development and Housing have all hired purchase advisers who will report to their respective ministers, Labour MP Chris Hipkins found under Official Information Act requests.

Mr English yesterday said the purchase advisers were experienced in the public sector and been most helpful to new ministers in showing them how the system worked - "which levers to pull, what the tricks are, and what the bureaucratic jargon means".

"We did need some objective advice because the public service had been used to getting whatever it wanted and big increases in spending every year," he said. "The benefits would be shown through in the Budget where he had been able to make significant savings. We have had to make a pretty sudden change to respond to the economic conditions and the ministers and the purchase advisers have done a very good job."

The advisers work from home. Mr English also has an adviser, former Treasury Secretary Graham Scott, who is also a former Act candidate.

Mr Hipkins criticised the purchase advisers as "spies" for Mr English in other ministers' offices.

Mr Hipkins reminded the House that early this year, Mr English had said that despite doubling the number of ministerial staff earning more than $100,000, National was in fact reducing the wage bill in the Beehive.

"Now it appears that all they have done is find a backdoor way to make taxpayers fund politically sympathetic advisers to carry out work for National Government ministers," said Mr Hipkins.

Public Service Association national secretary Brenda Pilott said the set-up breached the principle of political neutrality and could also breach the State Sector Act.

To Mr Hipkins' suggestion that the purchase advisers were "spies", Mr English said: "Labour can't lecture anyone. They ran a coercive, manipulative regime in the public service. These people are giving us objective and professional advice and they are helping us undo a lot of the mess that Labour left."

$8.5M SHIFT RILES MINISTER

Transport Minister Stephen Joyce potted his own agency, the Civil Aviation Authority, in Parliament yesterday over what he called unacceptable costs to shift premises.

It will cost $8.5 million to shift offices at the end of next year from Petone to the Wellington CBD under contracts that are unable to be changed.

The deal was done under the previous Government.

About 90 per cent of the CAA revenue comes through industry fees.

"I am not impressed that these costs are being incurred to this level and at a time when all New Zealanders are having to tighten their belts in the current global economic recession."