Is Winston Peters reluctant to trim MFAT?

Foreign Minister Wisnton Peters. Photo / Mark MItchell

As public sector job cuts tick over 3,000, touching nearly ever corner of the public service, one Government department is curiously absent.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) is one of the few departments not to announce how it plans to make savings, with some suspecting it is being protected by its minister, Winston Peters, who seems keen to expand New Zealand’s diplomatic footprint rather than cut funding to MFAT.

Government departments have been asked to find $1.5 billion in savings, in part by trimming 6.5 per cent or 7.5 per cent of “back office” spending. MFAT was on the list of agencies asked to trim 6.5 per cent.

When asked about its plans, a spokesperson for MFAT said, “[t]he Ministry is working with the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the Budget 2024 process, and is not in a position to comment further”.

Peters’ office told the NZ Herald “the Minister is continuing to work with MFAT officials”.

There has been suspicion for some time that Peters is not keen on wielding the axe at his own ministry.

Chief executives must put up proposals for spending cuts. It is up for ministers and Cabinet to accept them, giving Peters a great deal of power over the level to which spending at the ministry will be cut.

During a select committee meeting in February, Peters seemed cautious about trying to find too many savings.

“Of course we can always find economies, but we’ve got to start with firstly understanding that there’s some things you cannot sacrifice. What I’m talking about is anti-inflationary, because it’s not spent inside the NZ economy, it’s spent offshore,” Peters said.

When asked about NZ aid levels, Peters seemed keen to keep aid levels high, although he suggested it was more difficult than during his two previous stints as foreign minister.

“The problem with politics is that in 2005 or 2017 I could ask for something and know I was going to get it on day one. Unfortunately in 2023 we had to negotiate, and now I’m relying upon sensible survivorship and commonsense getting us to where we need to go,” Peters said.

Thomas Coughlan is Deputy Political Editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.