Business of Government: advice takes its toll, politicised public servants and more...

Minister sides with NZTA in interagency tolls stoushRecently released papers on the decision to toll North Auckland’s $830 million Penlink road reveal a deep divide between officials at Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) and the Ministry of Transport (MoT).It’s not often that ministers receive competing advice from agencies, particularly at the final stages of a statutory decision – and it’s probably even rarer that a minister will side with a crown entity over a ministry.MoT was very clear that NZTA’s...