The Honorable Maurice McTigue joined the Mercatus Center in 1997 as a distinguished visiting scholar following an illustrious career as a New Zealand Member of Parliament, Cabinet Minister and Ambassador. Prior to his arrival in the United States, the Honorable McTigue led an ambitious and extremely successful effort to restructure New Zealand's public sector and to revitalize its stagnant economy in the 1984-94 period. He entered the New Zealand Parliament in 1985 and served as the National Party's Junior Whip. As Spokesman for Works, Irrigation, Transport and Fisheries, the Honorable McTigue was closely involved in the deregulation of labor markets, deregulation of the transportation industry, and restructuring of the fishing industry through the creation of conservation incentives. In 1990, the Honorable McTigue was appointed Minister of Employment and Associate Minister of Finance, holding primary financial responsibility for student loans, school funding, public transit, occupational licensing, and the restructuring of employment programs.
In 1991, the Honorable McTigue accepted the positions of Minister of State Owned Enterprises, Minister of Railways, and Minister of Works and Development, and assumed Chairmanship of the Cabinet's powerful Expenditure Control Committee. In each Ministry, he applied results-based criteria to help clarify the organization's mission, analyze performance, and prioritize activities accordingly. In 1993, the Honorable McTigue was appointed Minister of Labour and Minister of Immigration, continuing the application of results-based principles to employment law, occupational safety and health regulations, and immigration. In April 1994, he moved to Canada as New Zealand’s Ambassador; concurrently, he served as non-residential High Commissioner to Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana.
In a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in 1999, Queen Elizabeth II bestowed upon the Honorable McTigue the prestigious Queen’s Service Order, in recognition of his public service. This is one of the highest honors attainable for civil service in New Zealand.
As director of the Government Accountability Project at Mercatus, the Honorable McTigue is sharing the lessons of his practical experience with policy makers in the United States. He works with officials in the Administration, members of Congress, officials from over 23 federal agencies and state governments on applying the principles of transparency and accountability in the public sector. In 2003, he was appointed to the Office of Personnel Management Senior Review Committee, formed to make recommendations for new Human Resources systems at the then newly created Department of Homeland Security. the Honorable McTigue has provided extensive strategic-level advice to the Office of Management and Budget on a wide range of management issues, including the development of a results-based program assessment tool. He frequently speaks at conferences on performance issues and testifies before congressional committees on issues of government reform.
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