GOVERNMENT WASTE

We spend a bit of time lurking in govt departments and we see so much waste , stupid jobs, stupid strategies. We know there are also people in the public service who are committed to what they are doing and really want to make the country a better place.
But its time for teh public service to take a good hard look at what it does and how it does it. It has got so bloody fat - becoming an economic jabba.

Key has said that he wants to reduce government waste - yee bloody ha , we say.

We have seen thousands and thousands of documents in store rooms and even in off site warehouses that go nowhere - publications that should never have been published - companies on " preferred supplier contracts" that have not felt the cold chill of competition for years.
Or stupid campaigns ( like the multi million dollar campaign to get us to change to better lightbulbs. )

It must change - If you have any evidence of waste - email us anonymously at bustedblonde@gmail.com. We will print all the best ones.

LIGHTBULB JOKES

Q: How many consultants does it take to change a light bulb?

A: I'll have an estimate for you a week from Monday.

Q: How many mystery writers does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: Two: One to screw it almost all the way in and the other to give it

a surprising twist at the end.

Q: How many existentialists does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: Two: One to screw it in and one to observe how the light bulb itself

symbolizes a single incandescent beacon of subjective reality in

a netherworld of endless absurdity reaching out toward a cosmos of

nothingness.

Q: How many spin doctors in the PM’s office does it take to change a light

bulb?

A: Four - One to say that no one could have foreseen the bulb's

burning out, one to spin stories for newspapers that the PM’s

bulb-changing program is working well, and one to go out on talk

shows to accuse the NATs of being weak on energy efficiency and one to spin that it’s just a discussion document.

NATIONAL CONDEMNS LIGHTBULB CAMPAIGN

$3.5 million PR campaign on light-bulb ban

National Party Energy spokesman Gerry Brownlee says Kiwi bill payers will be stunned to learn that the Electricity Commission is planning to spend up to $3.5 million in the next year promoting energy efficient light bulbs.

“Labour’s priorities are so warped in these tougher times that Helen Clark plans to spend more than $3 million telling New Zealanders what light bulb to install.”

Mr Brownlee is commenting after the release of a 54-page Request for Proposal (RFP) document issued by the commission, which states its purpose is ‘to select one or more parties whom the Electricity Commission may engage to promote the uptake of efficient lighting technologies’.

The proposal says the key areas of action are eliminating inefficient incandescent and halogen lighting.

This latest initiative comes in the wake of plans to regulate shower flow rates and place restrictions on the size of household hot water cylinders.

“Labour clearly hasn’t listened to the public outcry over the light-bulb ban, but to add insult to injury they’re going to spend $3.5 million telling New Zealanders all about it.

“All New Zealanders pay for the Electricity Commission’s work. I think they’ll be unhappy to learn that in these tough economic times they’ll be paying the government to boss them around even more and tell them what sort of light bulbs to use.

"New Zealanders don’t need yet another expensive PR campaign from a government agency in these tough times. What they need is a government focused on the things that matter."

Mr Brownlee says it’s very clear what a vote for Labour in the upcoming election means.

"It’s a vote for a nanny-state government spending your taxes to tell you what light bulbs to use, how much water can flow through your shower head, and how much hot water you can use.”

Mr Brownlee says National will overturn the ban on conventional light bulbs.

ENDS

Good boy Gerry - you get this weeks wine.
We just hope that National will put the money into Herceptin and save lives.

STILL LOTS OF LOLLIES BEING HANDED OUT BY LABOUR

Queen Bee at the Hive points to some suspicious spending by Labour leading up to the election - someone needs to put a counter on the spending - we reckon its got to be adding up to a tidy sum.

We want some more answers over the lightbulb scandal and we think that the pledgegate book bribe for oldies should be withdrawn.

We want to know if the public is happy for up to$10 milllion on a public lightbulb re-education programme - or if they would want the money spent on a few more courses of Herceptin.?

We think it is a no brainer - saving the lives of women or a social engineering programme to get you to change a lightbulb.

Hooton is on Tv3 Sunrise talking about Pledgegate - and arch lefty Matt McCarten agrees with Hooton -pledgegate is a disgrace. The left will note this - expect the booklet to be withdrawn by the end of today.

And Maurice comes in for some stick - goood - he needs more stick.

LABOUR GOING TO SPEND BETWEEN $8M AND $10 M TO GET YOU TO CHANGE YOUR LIGHTBULBS

We could not believe our eyes when this rolled into our in box. It is an RFP from GETS which is the Govt tender process. Big PR firms and other government suppliers subscribe to it . In fact it sat in our in box for a while. And out of curiosity we opened it - and as we say often - bugger me.

It was a 54 page tender document for some campaigns for energy efficiency being run by the Electricity Commission - some of of it will be around subsidisation for commercial energy efficiency - which we have a philosophical issue with - but the stunner was by our reckoning between $8 - $10 million over two years to get you and me to change our bloody light bulbs. Yes - $8-10m. to - change- to - energy - efficient - light - bulbs.

Basically one of those big PR campaigns loved by the Nanny State to get you to change your behaviours that is often referred to as " Social Marketing."

We think this is bloody outrageous. Actually its more than outrageous its bloody near criminal.

This money could be better used in so many ways - That would buy a lot of herceptin.


Here is the estimate that the Commission gives the tenderers for the contract in the document

For the year ending 30 June 2009, the Commission has an appropriation of $12 million for electricity efficiency initiatives in the commercial and industrial sectors and for efficient lighting programmes.

The Commission currently estimates that up to $3.5 million will be available in 2008/09 for programmes arising out of this RFP and an RFP that was recently released for Industrial Motors Programmes.

Proposals submitted in response to this RFP will be assessed in conjunction with responses to the Industrial Motors RFP and the available funding will be applied to the proposals considered to best utilise the available funds.

For programmes that are anticipate to run beyond the current financial year, the Commission’s anticipated appropriation for electricity efficiency programmes for 2009/10 is $15 million across the three areas of commercial, industrial and lighting.

We think that this tender should be withdrawn immediately. It is quite simply an insult to the nations collective intelligence and the type of frivolous government spending that lurks in so many departments that the public never gets a chance to see.