In recent years, the Treasury has been trying to bring a more diverse range of thinkers into its brains trust - though it always prided itself on having the "brightest and the best" minds anyway. But it seems not everyone in the public service is impressed. A survey of Treasury's stakeholders shows less than half of public servants agree that the occupants of Treasury HQ model the behaviour they expect of other public service agencies. Meanwhile, the number who describe the Treasury as expert, reliable, and outward facing has decreased, while there has been a rise in those who see it as complicated, demanding and combative.
Making 'em pay
This week's announcement of plans to update GST rules on overseas digital purchases was a big win for the lobbying efforts of local players over much bigger international rivals such as Netflix and Apple. Now ministers are carefully watching overseas developments as other nations chase a much bigger prize - forcing multinationals to pay more corporate tax. The idea of more revenue is always appealing, even if some will remember that National mocked Labour when it said Facebook should pay more tax in New Zealand, suggesting Labour was trying to ban Facebook. One fly in the ointment is that international tax changes might throw some light on how much tax New Zealand companies pay on their overseas operations.
Cosmetic changes
It's too late to save Solid Energy, but some overseas mining companies have found a way to cope with the commodities slump - do something entirely different. Canada's Century Iron Mines, for example, is taking capital intended for a new mine and instead putting it into a venture to distribute eggs from Queensland in Hong Kong and Macau. Aussie mining moguls Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest have branched out into other ventures, including ranching and infant formula. And a Brazilian miner is making an ever more dramatic change, getting out of iron ore and gold to make cosmetics instead.
