Public sector job cuts: ‘Nobody is above scrutiny’

Source: Radio New Zealand

The government’s latest job cuts in the public sector have a “DOGE-type approach” say the Greens, but it is “just what the doctor ordered”, according to ACT.

The government announced today that public service jobs are to be slashed by about 14 percent over the next three years in a shake-up that is expected to deliver $2.4 billion of savings.

The changes were made public in a pre-Budget speech delivered by Finance Minister Nicola Willis, and would result in about 8700 job losses by mid-2029.

There are currently just over 63,000 full-time public servants, which is a slight decrease under this coalition government from the high of approximately 65,000 in the 2024/25 year.

Are you a public servant affected by these job cuts? Email iwitness@rnz.co.nz

ACT leader David Seymour celebrated the government’s announcement as “just what the doctor ordered”.

The ACT party has long called for less government departments and Seymour said “we’re absolutely thrilled to see it.”.

Last year, Seymour made the case for streamlining the executive government. Under his proposal, there would be only 30 government departments and the executive would be limited to just 20 ministers.

On Tuesday, Seymour said other people in the government had written off the proposal, saying “there’s no need for it.”.

“Now we’ve seen a change, so I’m proud of the direction.”

Seymour said he was very happy about the goal to reduce the number of public servants from 62,000 to 55,000, but acknowledged the ACT Party would have done it “faster and harder”.

Initially, he would not provide a figure for the final number of government agencies following the plans to amalgamate. He said the government needed to understand first what services New Zealanders need, and how many ministries are required to deliver that.

“I suspect we might get to 30, but it can’t stop with the departments.

“It’s got to go to the top. We actually need fewer ministers, so that there is one minister, one department, one budget, maximum accountability to get better results and efficiency.”

Seymour eventually revealed he did know the number of agencies proposed to be cut, and said it was “close to the ACT Party policy”.

Asked if the public service would determine the number, Seymour said “hell no”.

In response to questions about Winston Peter’s dismissing potential cuts for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Seymour said “nobody is above scrutiny of taxpayer money”.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters said he was not worried about job losses at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, because he has a record of standing up for them.

“I know all of our embassies are going to be retained, everything is going to stay the same, and there’s the small matter of election on the 7th of November, and the Budget next year. I’m not concerned about it.”

Reporters put to Peters that this year’s Budget – which he would presumably vote for next week – would set out the savings across four years.

He denied that, and took a swing.

“The Budget doesn’t stretch four years, if you believe that with an election coming, you know nothing about democracy,” he said.

“That’s knucklehead stuff, mate.”

Willis said it was “always the case” that the Minister for Foreign Affairs would prefer more money went into the diplomacy network, to offshore embassies, and to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade.

“And I always seek to communicate to him what I hear from everyday voters,” Willis said.

“Which is, ‘can you please make sure I can get my hip operation faster, that my kids are getting educated better at school, and yes, invest in foreign affairs, but not at the expense of the things Kiwis really care about’.”

Asked if it was a “tough” conversation with Peters, Willis said “yes”.

Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said the government was constantly asking for more, faster and better from the public service – then demanding cuts.

She said the announcements looked similar to the Elon Musk-led cuts by the United States’ Department of Government Efficiency.

“It absolutely is in the style of the DOGE-type approach, where it’s just take as many cuts as you possibly can to the public sector, privatise and farm things out. It seems as though the government’s approach is kind of government GPT,” she said.

Swarbrick said the responsible approach to the size of the public service is deciding what should be done, then figuring out what’s needed to do that – but instead, frontline services would be cut.

“What we hear loud and clear from those in the front lines, in education and in healthcare, and across the board, is these apparent back room office cuts impact and increase the workload for those on the frontline,” she said.

Asking departments to come up with their own merger plans was “outsourcing any kind of meaningful decisions” and “taking a blowtorch to the public service”, and the 1 percent-of-the-general population target was “arbitrary figures plucked out of thin air”.

Labour’s finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said Willis should set out exactly where the mergers and job cuts were going to be before it said how much it would save.

“She should provide a list of what those jobs are, what that role entails, who’s going to cover that gap, so New Zealand can make a judgement call on whether this is actually value for money, of if they’re going to be losing the frontline services that they depend on.”

Public sector job cuts will cause anxiety in Wellington – mayor

Wellington mayor Andrew Little held a press conference shortly after the announcement and said it was “naturally” going to cause anxiety for people in the capital.

Little said it was important to wait for more details to come out to learn the significance of the cuts.

Although he remained optimistic given the rest of Willis’ announcement centred on the government’s plans to use tech – and AI – more.

Little said Wellington had a strong tech sector and if the government wanted to partner with tech companies – Wellington was the city for it.

The mayor said there were a number of “pretty significant” ministries and departments excluded from the job cuts.

Until “precise detail” was known, it was hard to say what impact it would have on Wellington.

However, Little said any cuts wouldn’t just affect public servants – but local retail and hospitality businesses too.

He said those businesses relied on public servants to buy from them – and in situations like this, the first thing people do is stop spending.

Little said the council’s role was to bring vibrancy back into the city.

There had been a “spring” back in people’s step earlier this year – but the fuel crisis and now this announcement – wouldn’t help.

Public Service Minister Paul Goldsmith said there had been a hiring “spree” under the previous government and now there was a “harder task” to reduce numbers to historic averages.

“It’s the right thing to do, because we want to deliver better outcomes for New Zealanders through public service. Like everyone else in the entire economy, everybody’s looking to use technology better, but also be more productive, and that’s what this is about.”

He said there were “enormous opportunities” for using AI and digital technologies, pointing to the justice sector, where the court process was being digitised after years of paper-based systems.

“Change is always frightening. But it’s also an opportunity.”

Willis said there were thousands of people employed in the public service who did roles that only a human could do.

“Only a social worker can sit with that family when something terrible has happened. Only the corrections officer can lock the cell. And there will be the need for physical biosecurity inspectors. Absolutely, our plan allows for all of that.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand