Foreign Affairs spends $1.6m on new office furniture

The Foreign Affairs Ministry has spent $1.6 million on furniture for its new head office in Wellington.

The money was mainly spent on new workstations costing around $1 million. The total cost of the furniture spend-up amounts to $4000 for each of the 414 staff.

The ministry is currently moving into a new office on the corner of Lambton Quay and Panama Street in central Wellington.

The lease of the building will cost another $4.25m a year.

The ministry says the move is justified to unite staff who have been spread around four different buildings that cost $1.7 million a year in rent.

The Dominion Post reported today that the new work stations would have cost almost $2000 each, $1400 more than the most economical work station on the market.

ACT MP Muriel Newman told the paper it appeared the ministry had engaged in "excessive spending."

A ministry spokesman said while the workstations were not the cheapest on the market, they were less expensive than the tailor-made option recommended in a review of the ministry's needs.

The workstations being replaced were 20 years old, he said.

Other furniture was similar to that purchased by other departments.

- NZPA