Fran O'Sullivan: Allen appointment a new direction

The commission's panel was encouraged to look at the top MFat job in an "expansive way".

The Government has put a bomb under the public service by appointing top State Owned Enterprise head John Allen as the new boss of foreign affairs.

When Allen walks through the doors of 195 Lambton Quay to take up his appointment - probably in July - the New Zealand Post chief executive will not only break the mould as the first business person appointed to lead the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFat).

He will also be a key driver in a huge transformational programme designed to leverage "New Zealand Inc", so New Zealand's vital economic and business interests are better projected offshore.

Behind the scenes, current MFat boss Simon Murdoch is driving a government-directed project to ensure externally-focused operations, ranging from his own ministry through to NZ Trade and Enterprise, Immigration, Education NZ and Tourism NZ, work in a more focused fashion, rather than the silo-style management.

Murdoch is widely recognised as New Zealand's top diplomat. He has superb skills and has served succeeding governments extremely well in various roles, including the Department of the Prime Minister.

But if senior Ministers, like Murray McCully (Foreign Affairs) and Tim Groser (Trade), have their way, the MFat that Murdoch manages will be a vastly different beast after Allen gets to implement his predecessor's blueprint.

What the Ministers have in mind is a huge shakeup that will see some embassies closed so more resources can be directed towards expanding a larger NZ Inc presence within New Zealand's vital trading partners.

Officials from outside MFat have also appointed heads of mission offshore, and, top resources from the private sector contracted in to help run trade negotiations.

As McCully explained it: "It is a leadership grab for New Zealand. Not an MFat power grab."

Within the cloistered confines of the Wellington Club, top public servants and their acolytes are trying to distil just what the Allen appointment signals for their own futures.

Let me help them with the semaphore. What the Government is doing is sending a message that outside contenders who have demonstrated strong leadership skills and a passionate vision for New Zealand will now be considered for top State jobs.

If the Allen appointment is a success, it could easily clear the way for other similarly "NZ Inc" focused appointments at other key government departments, like the Treasury, Ministry of Economic Development and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

The Government left nothing to chance on this score. It made its intentions clear in directions to the State Services Commission on the MFat job. What the Government wanted was a new MFat leader who could project New Zealand Inc on to the world stage - not necessarily a "chief diplomat".

The commission's panel was encouraged to look at the top MFat job in an "expansive way" and select a new chief executive who could (and this is the most important point) provide leadership for New Zealand - not just the Foreign Affairs Ministry - to help propel a much more aggressive approach offshore.

There were clearly some strong contenders from within the foreign affairs priesthood itself: Maarten Wevers - now chief executive of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet - who had previously been international manager for NZ Post and was lead official when New Zealand hosted Apec in 1999.

Rosemary Banks, the talented MFat official serving at the United Nations, was also a hot contender. But the Services Commission got the Government's message and went for Allen.

He is an accomplished after-dinner speaker and exceptional dinner-party host who works the Wellington scene well.

But he is also an accomplished leader who will want to start a national conversation on a new vision for New Zealand. Expect an Allen-directed MFat to go hard on driving opportunities for New Zealand business interests offshore to capitalise on the growing raft of free trade deals, and, leverage international investment to boost our own flagging economy.

McCully and Groser were prime ministerial orchestrators of the shakeup. National is not likely to say so directly.

But its foreign affairs heavyweights nursed considerable angst after a MFat official leaked the contents of a private meeting that former National leader Don Brash held with visiting Republican Senators before the 2005 election.

An infamous memo claiming Brash had told the Senators that our anti-nuclear policy would "be gone by lunchtime" if National took power damaged the party's trust in MFat when then Labour Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff used it for political capital in Parliament.

Brash and McCully, who was at that stage National's foreign affairs spokesman, banned MFat officials from sitting in as note-takers on their subsequent meetings offshore.

Groser and McCully have got their new broom into the top job. It is not without risks - but the shakeup is long overdue.