Jun 21, 2008

MED To Go Post Election?

Some months ago we suggested that MED should be high on the list of targets for a post election pruning (by whoever wins). Since then we do hear the topic talked about more and more around Wellington (what value does MED add?). Today we read in the NZ Herald

This suggests that if an incoming National Government wants to mount major new policies it would have to merge the Ministry of Economic Development back into Treasury so all the levers dwell again within one strong department, instead of the current approach, which reduces Treasury to something akin to an accounting organisation.
Key is also promoting a "bolder" New Zealand with a strong focus on leveraging the Asian growth century and major incentives for greenfields foreign direct investment. The question facing Key and English is whether National's potential coalition partners are up for the "step change".