PM Edition: Top 10 Business Articles on LiveNews.co.nz for May 21, 2026 – Full Text

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has again been exempt from funding cuts in this year’s Budget, with the Finance Minister confirming it wouldn’t be made to find savings until after the election.

On Tuesday Nicola Willis made a pre-Budget announcement that public service jobs would be slashed by about 14 percent over the next three years in a shake-up that is expected to deliver $2.4 billion in savings.

The cost-saving exercise amounts to 8700 jobs being cut by mid-2029, alongside a greater use of AI and the merger of an unknown number of ministries and government departments as part of a trimming down of the public service.

It also includes baseline funding reductions for some ministries of two percent for the coming year, and five percent for the two years after.

In Parliament on Wednesday in response to questions from Labour’s finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds, Willis revealed MFAT isn’t required to cut its spending by two percent this year, but would be included in the future cost savings.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was excluded from the two percent baseline reduction, but has not been excluded from the out years,” she told the House.

On Tuesday Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters told reporters he wasn’t worried about job losses, because he had a record of standing up for them and “everything’s going to stay the same”.

Responding to that comment in the House on Wednesday, Willis said she disagreed.

“I agree with Winston Peters on the important things, but on that particular statement, not really, because I think we are in a changing world and I think the ministry of foreign affairs needs to adapt with that world,” she said.

Peters had denied on Tuesday that this year’s Budget – which he would presumably vote for next week – would set out the savings across four years.

“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 has now confirmed – 24 hours later – that the election could be a roadblock in Peters’ ministry ever having to commit to the future reductions in spending, depending on the make-up of the government after 7 November.

Willis was asked on her way to Question Time on Wednesday whether she was confident any cuts to MFAT wouldn’t hurt the New Zealand economy or diplomatic relations, to which she responded that her and Peters differed on the answer to that.

“He would always have the diplomats have more money for their budgets, for their business class flights, and all of that stuff.

“My view is actually what the foreign affairs service can do, in the same way any other agency can do, is make sure that its back office is efficient, that it is not duplicating services across government, and yes, we need great diplomats on the front line, but they, just like every New Zealander, are accountable, and that means spending taxpayer money well, in some cases.”

She went on to say that “in some cases” both MFAT staff, and her, should be flying cattle class – not business.

The two ministers have had “extensive debates” about MFAT’s ongoing funding during Budget talks, Willis said.

On Tuesday she said it was “always the case” that Peters 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.

“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”.

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

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/20/winston-peters-wins-again-no-cuts-for-mfat-in-new-budget/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Economic and political uncertainty is keeping businesses from taking advantage of near-term growth and investment opportunities, with some businesse leaders expecting to become financially insolvent over the next 12 months.

A semi-annual Business Performance Index (BPI) by accounting and advisory firm BDO report indicates an increasing number of businesses were showing signs of improved underlying financial resilience, but not all.

“Economic and political uncertainty continues to be a major influence on business leaders’ mindset, with overall business performance sentiment remaining at a near record low in the latest biannual BPI,” BDO advisory partner Kimberley Symon said.

The April survey of 537 businesses tracked business performance sentiment and the leading issues.

Retail (19 percent), tourism (36 percent) and construction (42 percent) business leaders were the least positive about their current financial position.

Construction and retail business owners were feeling the pressure of market conditions most acutely, with cost-of living inflation and softer consumer demand undoubtedly squeezing margins.

About 40 percent of business leaders in these sectors were positive about their overall business performance, the lowest reading among major sectors, and a notable decline since the September survey.

In addition, 19 percent of construction business leaders and 3 percent of retail business leaders felt they were unlikely to meet financial obligations, or become insolvent, in the next 12 months.

In sharp contrast, agribusiness and Māori business leaders were the most positive about their current financial performance (both 54 percent).

Agribusiness (80 percent) and Māori businesses leaders (77 percent) were the most positive about the outlook with stronger export conditions for agricultural products including dairy, benefiting their rural communities.

Overall the report indicated 7 percent more business leaders were feeling positive about their financial performance (42 percent in April 2026 vs 35 percent in September 2025).

“This is only the second time an improvement in this measure has been recorded,” she said.

Auckland business leaders were the most positive about their current financial performance (57 percent), compared with (39 percent) in the rest of the North Island and (18 percent) South Island.

The big business issues ahead of Budget day

External economic (27 percent) and political factors (28 percent) were the two issues businesses felt least positive about, among the 19 attributes rated.

Looking ahead six months, business leaders expected to continue feeling least positive about economic and political issues, followed by cash flow.

However, labour supply and cyber risk were expected to move into their five lowest-scoring issues.

South Island business leaders were the least positive about political, economic and financial factors.

However, more South Island business leaders (37 percent) expected their net profit margins to increase over the next 12 months.

The outlook

“Business leaders are even more positive when looking ahead six months, with 49 percent nationally expecting to feel positive regarding their business financial performance,” she said.

“The latest BPI survey findings suggest some businesses are starting to see early signs of financial resilience after several difficult years, but market conditions remain fragile and the international macroeconomic environment is still highly uncertain.

“Business conditions are moving at different speeds across regions and market segments, with business performance, investment and hiring intentions closely tied to economic exposure, inflationary impacts and industry mix.

“It’s clear that many businesses are presently riding out the fuel price pressures by passing on higher prices to consumers. Looking ahead over the next 12 months, nearly half of business leaders (46 percent) expect net profit margins to hold steady – and 29 percent expect margins to improve.”

Still, two-thirds of business leaders (64 percent) expected rising fuel prices to hit net profit margins over the next 12 months, indicating they did not think they could pass on all cost increases.

Tourism business leaders had improved confidence in their outlook at 52 percent.

Mid-market businesses were holding up better than small businesses, with their added scale offering a further buffer against rising costs and tighter margins.

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

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/21/business-performance-sentiment-remains-near-record-low-bdo-report/

Source: Media Outreach

• Focused on production-grade AI, the Foundry will hire 50 AI professionals to deliver live enterprise projects in financial services and precision health.
• Expanded partnership with AI Singapore will drive joint prototypes, multilingual models, reusable delivery frameworks and enterprise deployments.

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 20 May 2026 – Temus today launched an AI Foundry, supported by Digital Industry Singapore (DISG), to expand Singapore’s AI talent base and strengthen production-grade AI delivery for enterprises.

The Foundry will hire, develop and deploy 50 Singapore-based AI professionals to build AI accelerators, governance frameworks, and delivery capabilities for enterprise AI.

Singapore’s Economic Strategy Review (ESR), whose final report was published 13 May 2026, made clear that Singapore should be a place where AI generates measurable business and societal outcomes. With more than 70 AI Centres of Excellence already established across sectors, Temus’ AI Foundry will build on these foundations to operationalise AI at production grade in response to that mandate – with the talent and delivery methods that translate AI ambition into live, enterprise projects.

<figure data-width="100%" data-caption="Front: Sng Ren Yeong, Chief Executive Officer, Temus; Mark Pereira, Head, Partnerships, Strategy & Growth (AI Products), AI Singapore
Back: Sutowo Wong, Managing Director, AI & Data, Temus; Kiren Kumar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Development, Infocomm Media Development Authority; Tomithy Too, AI Strategist, AI & Data, Temus” data-caption-display=”block” data-image-width=”0″ data-image-height=”0″ class=”c6″ readability=”10″>

Source: New Zealand Government

The tech, finance, telecommunications and retail sectors are being invited to help shape proposed regulations for a modernised road user charges system, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says.

Consultation on the proposed new regulations opened this week after the Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee reported back on the Land Transport (Revenue) Amendment Bill and recommended changes to strengthen it for service providers and road users. 

“The Land Transport (Revenue) Amendment Bill includes important legislative changes to enable the transition of New Zealand’s 3.5 million light vehicles to paying for our roading network through electronic road user charges, rather than petrol tax,” Mr Bishop says. 

“Petrol tax has long been a rough proxy for road use, but that link is breaking down as more fuel‑efficient vehicles pay less despite using the roads. With hybrids growing rapidly, the current system is becoming unfair. The Government is shifting to a model where all vehicle users pay based on actual road use and vehicle weight, regardless of fuel type.”

The regulations being consulted on will support the Bill by setting out how approved providers can operate, what services they can offer, and how data will be protected in a modern road user charges system.

They include: 

• how electronic distance recorders can be used
• who can become an approved RUC provider
• how providers will be monitored  
• how personal information will be protected
• other ways people may be able to pay RUC

“We expect the market to offer new payment options, such as subscriptions or post-payment, with simple set-and-forget billing similar to how many people already pay for power or streaming services,” Mr Bishop says.

“Getting the regulations right is a key part of building a fairer, simpler and more modern transport funding system that offers more flexibility and better technology.

“We know data privacy is important to New Zealanders. Any technology solutions will be required to comply with the Privacy Act and the Road User Charges Act which contains strong privacy safeguards and strictly limits what information can be accessed.

“We want to hear from innovative people and companies here and overseas to help build a road user charges system that is affordable and easy to use.”

Notes to editor: 

Consultation is open until 12 June.  More information is available here 

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/20/submissions-open-on-regulations-to-modernise-the-ruc-system/

Source: Media Outreach

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 20 May 2026 – Fushi Tech, a subsidiary of Yeahka (9923.HK), has announced a strategic upgrade with the launch of Fynix AI shop, a Full-stack AI Agent product purpose-built for overseas merchants.

Unlike conventional marketing tools or customer service systems, Fynix AI shop is designed to function as a genuine “digital employee” — one that actively participates in day-to-day business operations. It understands merchant needs, breaks down tasks, and executes them autonomously, supporting merchants across the full commercial cycle of customer acquisition, conversion, payment, and repeat purchases.

This is not simply a product update. It marks a fundamental shift in how merchants approach digital operations — and signals Fushi Tech’s evolution from a traditional SaaS provider to an AI Agent platform.

AI Agents: The Next Generation of Business Infrastructure

Enterprise digitalisation has, for much of the past decade, remained largely at the tooling stage: merchants adopt SaaS tools and then operate manually. However, as large language models continue to mature, AI is shifting from an assistive tool to an autonomous executor.

The defining value of an AI Agent lies not in answering questions, but in its ability to understand purposes, call on the right tools, complete tasks end to end, and close the loop without human intervention. Across the global technology industry, AI Agents are increasingly seen as the next major shift in enterprise software.

According to IDC, investments in AI solutions and services are projected to yield a global cumulative impact of USD 22.3 trillion by 2030, representing approximately 3.7% of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The trend is already taking shape in international markets. Salesforce has launched Agentforce, while emerging players such as Sierra AI are attracting significant capital, with the industry broadly applying valuation multiples of 30 to 60 times ARR to leading companies. These figures reflect the market’s long-term expectation in the commercial value of AI-powered employees.

For Fushi Tech, the launch of Fynix AI shop is also a response to a structural gap it has observed over years of serving merchants across Southeast Asia.

Many small and mid-sized merchants in the region still operate through fragmented digital systems — with point-of-sale, CRM, marketing, delivery, and customer service tools running in silos, data unable to flow between them, and key operational tasks still heavily dependent on manual effort. Merchants may have adopted software, but genuine gains in operational efficiency have remained elusive. AI Agents now make a unified operational hub possible for the first time.

Fushi Tech’s goal is not to optimize isolated steps in the process, but to have AI directly execute business operations on the merchant’s behalf. With AI Shop, merchants don’t learn to operate software — they manage an employee. This shift reflects a broader transformation underway in enterprise services — from selling tools to delivering outcomes.

A growing consensus is also emerging across the AI industry: as the underlying capabilities of large models converge, the real differentiator is increasingly a company’s ability to connect AI with real-world business.

Fushi Tech has positioned itself accordingly. Where many Western AI companies focus primarily on model capabilities and generative AI, Fushi Tech emphasizes deep integration across payments, CRM, and AI — keeping its offering close to the transaction itself.

Fynix AI shop is beyond a chatbot, it connects to a complete operational ecosystem: drawing on CRM data to understand customers, processing transactions through the payments infrastructure, and integrating with external platforms including WhatsApp, Telegram, Google, and delivery services.

This means AI is no longer simply capable of conversation — it is genuinely capable of doing business. And that is precisely the hardest part of bringing AI Agents to market at scale. The challenges extend well beyond algorithms, requiring engineering depth, merchant networks, payments infrastructure, and years of accumulated industry knowledge. In this sense, the companies best placed to build durable competitive advantages in AI may not be pure-play model providers, but those capable of embedding AI directly into real industry workflows.

From “SaaS Tool” to “AI Employee”

At the product level, Fynix AI shop exhibits the hallmarks of a digital employee, executing tasks autonomously across the merchant’s full operational cycle. Its core capabilities include:

• Content generation: Automatically creates menu pages, product listings, and marketing materials
• Intelligent conversation: Guides customers through product recommendations, conversion, and order placement in a natural, sales-driven interaction
• In-conversation payments: Completes transactions directly within the chat interface
• Customer management: Builds and continuously refines consumer profiles using CRM data
• Ecosystem integration: Connects with external tools including WhatsApp, Telegram, Google, and delivery services

Across the merchant journey, Fynix AI shop extends into use cases spanning store setup, customer acquisition, membership management, appointment booking, review management, and delivery platform integration.

In a customer re-engagement scenario, for instance, Fynix AI shop can automatically analyse purchase cycles, preferences, and dormancy patterns across the customer base, and provide campaign recommendations to the merchant. Once approved, the Agent generates the relevant vouchers and delivers personalized content to customers via the merchant app, Telegram, or other channels — tracking performance throughout.

In practice, merchants no longer need to manually review data, write copy, or repeatedly devise marketing strategies from scratch. Nor do they need to configure complex rules or adjust system parameters in the CRM backend. A single natural language instruction sets the entire workflow in motion — freeing merchants to focus on higher-level business decisions.

This reflects a deeper transformation that AI is bringing to the commercial world. Digitalization gave businesses better information. AI Agents are now giving them the ability to take action.

Whoever can genuinely help merchants get things done will be best positioned to own the next platform layer.

In that light, Fynix AI shop is more than a new product launch. It is an early attempt to define what enterprise services could look like in the years ahead — and a signal of where the industry is heading.

In fast-growing emerging markets like Southeast Asia, where digitalization among small and mid-sized merchants is still in its early stages, AI Agents may have the opportunity to leapfrog the traditional SaaS development curve and move directly into an era of intelligent operations.

For Yeahka, this also marks a meaningful evolution in its overseas strategy — from exporting payments capabilities alone, to delivering an integrated ecosystem spanning payments, data, and AI.

As AI takes an increasingly active role in business operations, the value chain of the enterprise services industry is being fundamentally redefined.

Hashtag: #FushiTech

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

Source: Radio New Zealand

An economist says more than 3500 jobs could be cut in Wellington, and the capital is set to “bear the brunt” of a major shake-up to the public service.

Some residents and cafe-owners fear the government’s plans will crush the city’s morale, leaving it a “ghost town”.

But senior ministers from Wellington insist the capital is more than a “boring” hub for bureaucrats, with the mayor pushing the city’s tech sector.

3700 jobs may go in Wellington alone – economist

The government has plans to slash the public sector workforce – which sits at about 64,000 – by 14 percent, or 8700 jobs, by mid 2029 in a move it says will save the country $2.4 billion.

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

A number of ministries are set to be amalgamated, and most agencies will have operating budgets shaved by 2 percent in the coming year, then by a further 5 percent in the next two.

The Defence Force, Corrections and the Ministry of Health were so far excluded from the shake-up.

Infometrics principal economist Nick Brunsdon said he expected Wellington to be hit hardest by the plans.

He said looking at numbers from the Public Service Commission and applying the 14 percent cut to the city’s core public service population of just over 27,000 – excluding frontline roles in education and health – could mean job losses of around 3700 for Wellington.

“Based on [Finance Minister Nicola] Willis stating a target of 8700 jobs gone from the core public service, that works out to about 1.3 percent of all jobs in Wellington. For all other regions it’s a much smaller share, sort of 0.3 percent or less.”

Applying the 14 percent reduction to Canterbury’s 6700 public service equated to 909 jobs, or 0.3 percent of the region’s total jobs, Brunsdon said. He said Manawatū-Whanganui, Northland and West Coast had a 0.3 percent reduction through this modelling.

About 42 percent of public service employees are concentrated in Wellington, and the rest spread throughout the country.

“Those sorts of back-office – if you will – jobs are mostly concentrated in Wellington in those government agencies, and that’s why cutting the core public service hits Wellington so much harder,” Brunsdon said. “If it was a target across the entire public service it would be spread a little bit more evenly across the country.”

Brunsdon said it was important to ensure the public service was not bloated.

“The point of the government isn’t to support Wellington, and ultimately it’s funding what it does through taxes on everyone. So we’ve got to make sure those taxes are fair and we are getting fair bang-for-buck for everyone.”

But he said the challenge with the plan was how each agency would apply a budget cut directive, and it might miss a wider view of where investment is needed overall.

Willis said the changes will be phased in over several years, and it was too soon to say where specifically they will occur.

“Wellington and other centres will have time to adjust. The labour market is dynamic. Every quarter, something like 150,000 jobs are created in New Zealand.”

Cafe owner calls move ‘heartless’, resident fears ‘ghost town’

The view from some parts of Lambton Quay was less optimistic.

Kirsten Saunders, co-owner of Smith the Grocer Cafe, said the last round of public sector cuts saw foot traffic dry up – and the prospect of more job losses was crushing.

“You see the stress that it takes on all the people coming in who are going through the restructures and losing their jobs.

“That was very noticeable here, because we see a lot of those sort of business meetings, meetings with recruitment agents, recruitment agents were telling us that there’s just not a lot of jobs around, lots of people hunting for them.”

Saunders said the city had not fully recovered from its economic downturn, and this was another blow.

“People just don’t have the same discretionary spend… The current government seems a little heartless, I would suggest. It would be nice to see a bit more compassion.”

Wellington resident Tracy Day said the culture in Wellington was already dying, but the cuts would finish it off.

“People aren’t going to want to stay in Wellington, then the shops are empty, the rates go up, and Wellington’s just going to be another ghost town.”

As a mum, she worried for students leaving university and looking for jobs.

Kim Thomas said the cuts would not be good for the city.

“You’re already seeing lots of shops close and cafes close and restaurants close… It’ll probably be more of that.”

Sagar Sharma, who owns the Annexe Cafe and Cafe Coffee Station in central Wellington, said he had reduced staff about 30 percent over the past two years, due to a combination of the public sector job cuts and a new working-from-home culture.

A recent move of the Wellington City Council offices had not helped Annexe Cafe, he said. He doubted both businesses could remain open if thousands of jobs were slashed in the capital.

“At the moment, we are 11.30, it’s almost 12 o’clock, we have four customers in the cafe… If [the job cuts happen] I don’t think we will survive anymore.”

But Mia Tracey from Dough Bakery, Slice and Pickle and Pie, said she was trying to keep positive amid the unfortunate news.

“We just have to continue to ride the metaphorical wave. Control what we can control and try to have a positive outlook.”

She said the city library’s recent opening was good news, and could breathe some new life back into the CBD.

Not just a ‘public sector town’ – ministers

Willis said Wellington was more than just a hub for bureaucrats, with an extraordinary film and tech industry and world-leading firms.

Senior minister and MP for Hutt Valley, Chris Bishop, agreed.

“We’ve got to stop stereotyping Wellington as just a boring, public service town… it is so much more than that and we’ve got to stop thinking about it like that.”

Bishop said Wellingtonians and Hutt Valley residents he talked to wanted a high-quality, “fit for purpose” public service.

When asked whether public servants might feel vilified, Bishop said people would have a range of reactions to the news, but he valued the contribution of the public servants he worked with

Wellington Mayor Andrew Little said the cuts would spread anxiety for residents and businesses as people wondered “when the axe is going to fall”.

But he said the city had a strong tech sector, which he hoped would provide resilience.

“We have a really strong tech sector, not just fin-tech but govt-tech, technology that supports government, so this is a city that can help the government make a difference.”

Little said he would be contacting senior ministers to discuss the impact on the city.

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

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/20/heartless-fears-wellington-will-be-ghost-town-after-public-service-cuts/

Source: NZCTU

The introduction of the Disability Support Services Bill is another instance of this Government seeking to undercut the Courts’ decisions and revoke access to justice for working people, says New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi President Sandra Grey.

“This is the same playbook that saw the Government extinguish pay equity claims for thousands of workers overnight, and strip employment rights from platform workers following their win against Uber in the Supreme Court.

“Once again, they are quashing hard-won employment rights without consultation, just because they do not like the outcome.

“The Supreme Court’s 2025 decision opened the door for families to seek employment rights for the disability support services they provide to disabled family members. Through this Bill, the Government is extinguishing that pathway – including the 40-plus claims currently in progress, as well as any future employment-related claims.

“The Government is pushing the cost of its own work onto these families. By enshrining family labour as the primary form of support, without recourse to basic employment rights, it is minimising its fiscal costs by having families do skilled, intensive work unpaid.

“These family members are doing work that would otherwise be the Government’s responsibility. Many are providing full-time care and support – work that is intensive, skilled, and already severely undervalued.

“Everyone should be able to live in dignity, including our disabled communities. These changes are making these families’ lives harder in an already difficult time,” says Grey.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/20/new-bill-strips-employment-rights-for-family-carers/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Travel software company Serko has narrowed its full-year loss, while recording a strong improvement in revenue and underlying earnings.

Key numbers for the 12 months ended March compared with a year ago:

• Net loss $17.7m vs $22m loss
• Revenue $120.9m vs $90.5m
• Underlying operating earnings $6.5m vs $2.8m
• Total spend 122.9m vs $92.7m
• Total assets $116.0m vs $126.3m

Serko said the result was driven by the continued growth of Booking.com for Business, which saw completed room nights increase 31 percent to 4.3 million, and active customers grow 36 percent to 301,000.

The result also included the first full-year revenue from its recently acquired platform GetThere.

“Our FY26 performance demonstrates our ability to deliver high growth and maintain cost discipline, while investing for growth,” Serko chief executive Darrin Grafton said.

“We have delivered total income at the top end of our narrowed guidance range, demonstrating the strength of our business and our ability to deliver on our strategy.”

Grafton said Serko was in an “exciting stage” with the company developing artificial intelligence-powered tools.

“Our new multi-agent AI solution, Serko.ai, is in closed beta in the US with positive early validation from travellers. We remain on track for an open beta launch in Q3 FY27.”

Serko said business travel demand remained resilient despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and economic challenges.

It said the business made a “strong start” to the new financial year, with booking volumes slightly ahead of growth expectations.

Serko forecast total income in the financial year 2027 in the range of $128-$134m and total spend in the range of $132-140m.

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

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/20/serko-boosts-revenue-but-still-posts-loss/

Source: NZCTU

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi President Sandra Grey has today blasted Nicola Willis’s pre-Budget announcement on public sector job cuts. “After years of failing to make her economic plans work, failing to get the economy back on track, and failing to get the cost of living under control, the Minister of Finance is looking for someone else to blame. This is just a cynical ploy designed to prop up the Coalition’s Budget, rather than a coherent plan designed to tackle New Zealand’s public service needs,” she says.

“The Minister outlined cuts of 12% over three years to affected departments. With inflation on top, that’s around a 20% real-terms cut in funding to departments that look after biosecurity, customs, online exploitation, and public health – with staff to be replaced by AI robots and contractors who don’t count as permanent staff. 8,700 fewer staff delivering essential services, but bonus times for international consultancy firms. This is the opposite of what value for money means,” Grey says.

“New Zealand needs skilled and talented people to deliver the public services we all rely upon. The Minister has just guaranteed a minimum three years of disruption, change, and employment insecurity. Rather than making our public services better, the Minister has just provided another reason for people to leave both the public service and the country. Some of the functions likely to be cut by departments will end up back in government agencies to save money. That simply makes it a cut to frontline public services in disguise,” Grey says.

“Kiwis deserve better than this frankly desperate gamble from the government. Arbitrary cuts to public services. Vague hopes that technology will save billions with no plan. No real understanding of the huge and often unmet public service needs of New Zealanders. Ministers aren’t even being required to do the work of making decisions – they are passing that down to departments. This is simply the government confirming how out of touch they are,” Grey says.

MIL OSI