I think the Nats are onto something by targeting the Government’s consultancy spend over the last year.

It is huge, $1.2 billion dollars on record. The year before, it was closer to $900m, so it went up by a third in one year. 

That should've set off alarm bells for anyone in The Beehive, but they just pushed on with it. Such is their attitude, I suspect, to using money.

A lot of this is just a complete waste on projects that have gone absolutely nowhere.

Like the RNZ/TVNZ merger- up to $16m on consultants. The bike bridge to Birkenhead- $51m on consultants. Light Rail- $53m on consultants.

So you and I have paid the mortgage of these consultants, but we have literally nothing to show for it.  No bridge. No merger. No light rail yet.  Just wasted money. 

It’s got so out of hand in Wellington that there are jokes about the fact that there are three branches of Government: the legislature, the judiciary, and Martin Jenkins.

Martin Jenkins isn't even one of the big ones. The big ones raking in consultancy fees are Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst and Young and PwC.

There are a couple of obvious reasons why this spend has got so out of hand under this Government. 

The first is Labour approached Government like a drunk trying to prepare a dinner party. No clear plan, no idea where to start, just trying to do everything at once and then botch it because you can’t handle it all.

• Victoria University political analyst warns consultants may be slipping biases into Government
• Consultants cash in: $6k a week paid out to each contractor in RNZ/TVNZ merger
• Splash the cash: Private Three Waters consultants paid $16m
• Andrew Dickens: How can you reduce both public servants and consultants if you want anything done?

So it ended up with consultants chasing every hare brained idea every junior minister had.

The second is the obsession with spinning the story. Rob Campbell reckons there are over 200 communications people in Health NZ and even then they have to call in PR consultancy firms to sell you the story even better. 

None of us are going to shed a tear if these consultancy firms lose contracts.

Because we cancel stupid ideas that should never be explored and because we cut back on the PR double speak.

It puts Labour in a difficult position. Either fall into line and promise to cut the spending too, or defend wasting taxpayer money.

LISTEN ABOVE