ABOVE THE FOLD
HOT POTATO, HOT MIC — Labour Minister DAVID PICCINI is still in the hot seat over the hot-potato Skills Development Fund, and even found himself hauled onto JOHN MOORE’s Newstalk 1010 show after staffers griped to the producer that they were only airing Opposition reaction clips to the AG’s scathing report. And let’s just say it wasn’t exactly a victory lap for the embattled Minister.
Piccini went on to defend the SDF and conceded that he signed off on “lower scoring” projects that “align with government priorities.” That’s about as close as we’ll get to him admitting he overruled the bureaucratic experts. Still, not so damning for the “that’s why we elect politicians” crowd.
Moore also pressed Piccini on the notion that restaurants, law firms and other private companies that ought to pay for their own training received public money. Ditto the reports that Piccini went to Paris to attend the wedding of a lobbyist whose clients received millions in SDF grants.
But Piccini …