"Clark Gives Us A Taste Of The Labour Style"

State Services Minister, Simon Upton, condemned Labour leader Helen Clark's willingness to threaten public servants as "thoroughly inappropriate".

"It's the same every election year; Labour convince themselves they're going to win and then start bullying officials who are not in a position to respond".

Mr Upton was reacting to Ms Clark's comments to the Evening Post this afternoon, where she said that education and commerce were two areas where her party had most concerns about the ideological leanings of bureaucrats".

"It's incredibly rich for Labour to complain that the public service has become too politicised and then, in the same breath, threaten to clean out all the individuals they don't agree with if they come to power."

"Such an approach flies in the face of an independent public service that, by long convention, is employed to provide free, frank, and fearless advice", Mr Upton said.

"New Zealand enjoys one of the finest non-politicised public service in the world. We should jealously guard it.

"Meanwhile, Labour continues to lament that the public services struggles to retain individuals and institutional knowledge. Is it any wonder?", Mr Upton concluded.