Do as I say, not as I do

Radio NZ reports:

The foreign minister has made five new diplomatic appointments – including his own ministerial adviser and former chief of staff Jon Johansson as the Ambassador to Sweden. …

Johansson taught at Victoria University for 17 years, and served as Winston Peters’ chief of staff then-senior specialist ministerial adviser in the 2017-20 and 23-26 parliamentary terms.

Peters described him as a “political scientist specialising in political leadership” saying he had “worked the past quarter-century at the intersection of New Zealand politics, media, public service and foreign policy”, before acknowledging his roles as Peters’ staffer.

“In these roles, Jon provided advice to the foreign minister on a broad range of policy issues and participated in the minister’s engagements with counterpart foreign ministers all around the world.”

In 2016, Peters criticised the “brorocracy” of diplomatic appointments after speculation that former Speaker David Carter – who New Zealand First MPs had clashed with – would replace another former Speaker Lockwood Smith as High Commissioner to Britain.

Carter later rubbished the idea, but Peters told media at the time political appointees should be “the absolute exception” and he would recall appointees home if his party held the balance of power at the subsequent election.

This is quite hilarious. Peters has spent years railing against political appointments to diplomatic posts, and then he appoints his former chief of staff to be Ambassador to Sweden.

Personally I don’t have a problem with occasional political appointments. Bolger and Groser to Washington did an excellent job as did Lockwood in the UK.

I have no doubt Johansson will be a diligent and competent Ambassador. A former COS to a Foreign Minister will not be a novice. So the issue is Winston’s consistency, not Johansson’s suitability.