Foreign Minister Murray McCully approved his department's botched restructuring plan, Labour's Phil Goff says.
Mr Goff has been trying to prove Mr McCully knew the details of the plan and now has the department's four-year budget proposals, released under the Official Information Act.
The restructuring plan created a storm of protest within the ministry and Mr McCully distanced himself from it before ordering parts of it to be withdrawn.
Chief executive John Allen carried the blame and Mr Goff says he was the scapegoat.
"The budget plan was prepared in late 2011 as usual and finalised by February 2012," he said on Thursday.
"No budget plan goes forward without the detailed knowledge and explicit approval of the minister."
Mr Goff, a former Foreign Minister, says it's clear Mr McCully approved the plan a month before he publicly distanced himself from it.
"This information confirms what everybody suspected already - the minister himself is responsible for the botched restructuring of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade," he said.
"The budget plan makes reference to the alternative approaches to representation, outsourcing of services, changes in pay and allowances for staff, job cuts and substantial spending cuts."
When Mr Allen released the plan there was an unprecedented backlash from diplomats, who said New Zealand's foreign representation would be seriously compromised if it went ahead.
During the row Mr Goff received a series of leaked documents, including a confidential cabinet paper.
An investigation is under way to find out who gave it to him.
NZN