KEY POINTS:
Foreign Minister Winston Peters put in a bid for an extra 300 staff for Foreign Affairs in the last Budget, which was turned down - for now.
A successful bid would have increased staff by 43 per cent and, over six years, would have cost $280 million.
National
foreign affairs spokesman Murray McCully, who obtained the Budget documents, believes it was a case of Mr Peters trying to exercise as much leverage as he could as a confidence-and-supply partner of the minority Government.
And while the Treasury effectively damned the bid and recommended no increase of staff at the ministry, Finance Minister Michael Cullen is keeping it under watch.
Increases in operational and associated capital funding are listed as a new $440 million quantified risk in the Budget documents.
Documents for unsuccessful Budget bids are not normally released, but may have been in this case because the request has not been finally rejected.
Mr Peters wanted 100 more staff for overseas postings, 100 more policy staff for Wellington and 100 extra support staff for overseas and in Wellington.
Mr McCully believes the round figures indicate a lack of attention to a detailed bid.
"The whole thing is shamefully cobbled together. It is not a bid that has a level of detail around it that exhibits careful study.
"The Treasury was clearly underwhelmed."
Treasury's advice was: "We do not consider MFAT [Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade] has any capability issues sufficient to warrant funding increases.
"We note that there does not appear to be any evidence of significant numbers of staff vacancies and staff turnover is relatively low."
Mr McCully said Mr Peters, as the New Zealand First leader, was in a strong position to seek support for Budget bids for which other ministers would be turned down flat.
"That is why this bid is still alive. They have not rejected it. They have left it for further study.
"I am sure you could make a good case for an increase in MFAT staffing, it's just that this isn't it."
The ministry said the Budget bid required a "step change" in resources to fund a "step change" in international diplomacy.
The new funding would be directed across five areas:
* To anchor the country firmly into the evolving Asia-Pacific regional arrangement.
* Secure more high-yield economic partnerships.
* Step up efforts to improve regional security.
* Strengthen natural resource and energy diplomacy.
* Upgrade capability for dealing with consular crises.
A spokesman for Mr Peters said his leadership of New Zealand First had nothing to do with the way he approached the Budget bid round.
"His bid, like all ministers, was based on achieving the best possible outcome for his department."
Mr Peters' main achievement in the Budget was in overseas aid, which increased by $70 million or 20.2 per cent.
The increase takes the total aid this year to $429 million, or 0.3 per cent of gross national income.
