$100-a-head meals for Treasury boss

John Whitehead. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Treasury boss John Whitehead took World Bank and International Monetary Fund officials out for pricey dinners just a few months after State Service Commissioner Iain Rennie warned top public servants against doing just that.

Dr Whitehead's credit card expenses were published this week and show that last month he spent $292 on dinner for three at Wellington waterfront eatery Foxglove with World Bank executive director Jim Hagan.

Dr Whitehead is to leave Treasury at the end of May, after the Budget, to take up a two-year post as an executive director of the World Bank. He also spent $296 on dinner for three with IMF executive director Chris Legg at seafood restaurant Shed 5.

A dinner for three for members of Treasury's board at French bistro La Canard in February cost $243, but lunch with Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard cost $71.88.

Dr Whitehead's spending at Foxglove and Shed 5 comes a few months after being praised by State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie for spending just $9 a head on pizza for a working lunch for 25 attended by Finance Minister Bill English.

While Mr Rennie at the time noted the requirement to offer suitable hospitality to visiting officials, he said he did not believe "using departmental credit cards in expensive restaurants is an appropriate way to encourage good performance or a culture of prudence with public funds".

Most taxpayers would struggle to afford $100 a head for meals, he said. "I think public servants need to reflect on that."

Other public sector chief executive expenses released recently include those of former top spy Sir Bruce Ferguson - until December the head of the Government Communications Security Bureau. In his past six months with the bureau, he spent a total of $26,358, including $5000 on hospitality and gifts and $19,600 on international travel.