Five go in shake-up at top of Treasury ranks

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Five officials have lost their jobs or quit in a major shake-up at the top of the Treasury.

The clearout will see all four deputy secretaries go. The head of the former asset-monitoring agency is also leaving as chief executive John Whitehead puts a new face on the department.

The revamp axes nine senior roles and replaces them with eight new ones in what is seen as another step towards a more "activist" role for the Treasury, sanctioned by Finance Minister Bill English.

It is understood some senior managers, faced with likely demotion under the new structure, chose not to reapply for their jobs.

Two new deputy chief executive positions will be filled by Gabriel Makhlouf, a former adviser to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Andrew Kibblewhite, who is director of policy in John Key's Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

A new position of chief economist goes to Norman Gemmell, a former British civil servant and adviser to the World Bank.

The existing deputy secretaries, Peter Bushnell, Peter Mersi, Angela Hauk-Willis and Mike James, and the head of the disestablished Crown Company Monitoring and Advisory Unit, Murray Wright, are all leaving, though some are expected to be retained as consultants.

The unit's role overseeing state assets will now be the responsibility of John Crawford as the general manager in charge of Crown ownership and state sector performance. He is at present lead policy adviser on economic issues in Mr Key's department.

In a statement Mr Whitehead said he was confident the new leadership team would "help deliver my vision for the Treasury – that it will be recognised for shaping and influencing the agenda, and a commitment to excellence in implementation".

Labour state services spokesman Grant Robertson said he was surprised to hear that from Mr Whitehead.

"The shaping of the agenda is best left to politicians. They are elected."

He said there had obviously been a cleanout of senior staff as Mr Whitehead took the organisation in a new direction.

"I just hope it's one that doesn't resuscitate the failed ideas of the 1980s and 1990s."