The Insider: Love me tender

Paula Bennett.

The crunch time is getting closer for the Government's banker, Westpac, and others seeking lucrative contracts. For the first time in 20 years, "all-of-government banking services" have been tendered. The tender closed on October 10, and procurement officials say they are pleased with the responses received for each of the four categories of services. Contracts are not expected to be awarded until the middle of next year.

Un-super pay
The people who keep an eye on the Cullen Fund appear to have a solid case for a pay rise. The Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation this week released an independent review of their work, done by Promontory Financial Group. It's a glowing assessment, but notes "the level of remuneration for the board is well below what we expect for similar organisations and for the skills and commitment required of a board of this type". The report recommends a raise for board members, whose pay last changed in 2008, and is now set at $27,000 for a member, and $54,000 for the chair.

Party's over
The pundits say high staff turnover in a company is a warning signal that good managers should heed. So what's the message for Labour in the fact that about half of Labour MPs' executive assistants have left Parliament since the election?

Hair today...
Many MPs were moaning about some of the traditions followed in the opening of Parliament, in particular the need to swear allegiance to the Queen and her heirs (though some inadvertently broke the pledge by offering their loyalty to the Queen's "hairs"). Some bemoaned the links to New Zealand's colonial past, then said they wanted to swear allegiance to the Treaty of Waitangi written in New Zealand's colonial past. Or, as Catherine Delahunty said, "Te Tiriti o Waitangi instead of a bunch of English colonial weirdness."

Me too
The pressure is on to nail down a trade deal with South Korea, where high tariffs on dairy products are a pain for exporters. Pressure has also been coming on the Government from the meat and kiwifruit industries, which want a deal to maintain competitiveness with rivals who already have, or are about to get, more favourable conditions. Zespri in particular is feeling the pain and losing market share to Chilean producers who face no tariff compared to the 40 per cent or so that New Zealand exporters have to pay.

Bad signs
Better late than never, a cynic might say, but Otago University research has found that almost 90 per cent of finance company failures were predictable, based on their public disclosures. The researchers found that failed finance companies had lower capital adequacy, inferior asset quality, more loans falling due, and a longer audit lag. Of course, investors tend not to know about such things, regulators weren't always as enthusiastic as they are today, and in the past anyone drawing attention to these weaknesses was likely to be on the receiving end of a lawyer's letter.

If the cap fits
The poor old State Services Commission has the job of making sure the Government's cap on the size of the public sector is not breached. Gossip around the civil service is that this is proving a difficult task. The online version of the commission's annual report has a typo - or perhaps a bit of wishful thinking - as it states "as at 31 December 2014, positions in core government administration were 65 below the cap". The SSC meant to say "December 2013", when there were 36,410 full-time equivalent positions in core government administration, just below the cap. The commission will have done well if the cap has not been breached by the time December 2014 rolls around.

Bennett buddy
The well-regarded National Party "go to" woman Belinda Milnes is stepping down as Families Commissioner to return to a new role with Cabinet minister Paula Bennett. Bennett, meanwhile, is getting her first taste of the world of international finance in Beijing, attending the Apec annual meeting of Finance Ministers, on behalf of Bill English, before the Apec economic leaders' meeting, to be held in Beijing on November 10 and 11.