The Insider: Juggling the mates

The signing ceremony for the new Chinese-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Photo / AP

Trying to be friends to all people at all times can be a tricky diplomatic juggling game. The US-NZ Partnership Forum was held in Auckland this week, to emphasise New Zealand's close relationship with America, but Deputy PM Bill English was unable to attend, as he was in Beijing at the signing ceremony for the new Chinese-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank - an institution which hasn't exactly been embraced by the US - and handing over $125 million to help fund it.

Pot luck

It's that time of year when departmental financial reviews reveal the gifts given to public servants. It is noticeable that the standard token of thanks has moved from the once obligatory bottle of wine to more edible treats. For example, one general manager at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment declared receiving pineapple pastries worth $30 as well as a gift pack of wild raspberry and feijoa jam and wasabi mustard. There also appears to have been a small diplomatic mistake when MBIE staff received gifts from the Ningbo Municipal Government in China. A general manager received a present of a teapot, but an accompanying graduate policy adviser got lucky and was given two teapots.

Belt-loosening

In what is meant to be a time of fiscal restraint in public sector wages, the Electricity Authority is budgeting for increases in board members' fees, from $485,000 a year to $582,000. Perhaps they are taking their lead from the pay packets of power company bosses.

Left, right...

Bill English's latest press secretary, Chris Ritchie, has had a long political journey from the days when he worked for Jim Anderton (left) and then Michael Cullen in the last Labour Government. It's quite a feat to work for two finance ministers from opposite sides of the political divide. Ritchie became something of a legend for devising a way to keep press conferences with the long-winded Anderton to a bearable length. He timed them all to begin 30 minutes before Question Time, so things had to wrap up when the bells started summoning MPs into the House.

Show and tell

New Zealand politicians may be watching with some trepidation as their American counterparts make themselves more accountable. The US requires the mandatory filing of asset details with the Office of Government Ethics, which is a bit like the MPs' and ministers' register of interests in New Zealand, and about as illuminating. Now the trend in the US is to release tax returns. Former Florida Governor and presidential hopeful Jeb Bush has released 33 years of personal income tax returns, showing his total net worth is between US$19 million and US$22 million. The records also show he paid an effective federal tax rate of about 36 per cent cent over more than three decades - which by US standards shows either a remarkable willingness to cough up, or some very poor tax advice. His release trumps former Senator Bob Dole, who released 30 years of returns. It makes one wonder how many Kiwi politicians would be comfortable about releasing such swathes of tax information.

China stocks up

Fascinating trivia: in China, capitalists outnumber Communists, says the Bloomberg news agency. Figures from the China Securities Depository and Clearing Co show that more than 90 million Chinese now trade shares. That compares with 87.8 million Communist Party members at the end of last year, as reported by the state-run Xinhua News Agency. As Bloomberg notes: "It's safe to assume this is not what Mao Zedong envisioned when he led the Communists to power in 1949 ..."

Politic? Maybe not

As usual on July 1, this week marked a new round of Government appointments to a wide range of bodies. One that stands out was the appointment of Sir Wira Gardiner as chairman of the Local Government Commission. No one doubts Sir Wira's competence, but is it a great look to appoint such a high profile National Party person to a role which is on the fault line between central and local government?