Finance Minister Nicola Willis. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Finance Minister Nicola Willis is keeping an open mind on whether several government agencies should be rolled into larger ones, but says it is too early to make a judgement.
The Public Service Commissioner is considering a major shake-up of agencies including the ministries for Women and Pacific Peoples.
Sir Brian Roche is refusing to rule out recommending the ministries won't be absorbed into larger ministries, saying all options were on the table.
He told Mata he had been looking at improving public service efficiency and performance, and that there was scope to reduce fragmentation and strengthen individual agencies to focus on their core business.
He indicated the ministries' functions and branding would remain.
Speaking on Morning Report's political panel, Finance Minister and National's deputy leader Nicola Willis said the commissioner had been asked to think about getting "great" performance out of the public service while ensuring it could deliver important functions.
"He's looking at ways to reduce back office functions and ensure that we can deliver more bang for buck. Of course, he's also said that he'd want to ensure that those particular populations, communities, and voices continue to be prominent in the public service," she said.
"So we'll see where he gets to."
It was too early to make a judgement, Willis said, as no detailed proposals had been put in front of ministers yet.
"I think having those individual brands and ensuring that there are those individual voices is important. But I also understand that there's lots of ways of organising things."
The Public Service Association said the ministries provided free and frank advice to the government on the impact policies have on groups that could otherwise be overlooked.
National secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said it was not good enough for ministers to hide behind the commissioner, and the government needed to make its intentions for the ministries clear.
"These ministries cost less than 0.1 percent of the government's annual budget. That's a tiny fraction of the money this government has wasted on tax cuts for landlords and the ferry fiasco. The voice of under-represented New Zealanders should not be cut off because the Government is in a fiscal hole of its own making."
Labour's deputy leader, Carmel Sepuloni, said the government was ignoring the agencies, pointing to the Ministry for Women not being consulted on the pay equity changes.
"They weren't even informed of the pay equity changes. They haven't been consulted on, they're not being asked to measure the impacts of what the pay equity changes will mean. And so this is a government that's not utilising the population group agencies. It's not that they are ineffective," she said.
"There are women providing advice in every government agency. So for Carmel to suggest that the only way to understand what women think is to have a specifically branded, independent ministry, I don't think is really common sense," Willis replied.
Sepuloni said it sounded like the ministries were being used to help save the government's Budget, and that ACT leader David Seymour was having his way.
In 2023, ACT campaigned on "abolishing demographic ministries," which Sepuloni said was concerning.
"David Seymour signaled his disdain for these particular ministries prior to the election, and it looks like he is the tail wagging the dog again."
Seymour told RNZ he had not spoken to the commissioner about the ministries or their role.
Any changes to the ministries would be for the minister and commissioner of public services to make, Seymour said. "However it'll be no surprise that ACT has long questioned what is the purpose of a ministry for a specific type of person when all government services should be delivered with all people in mind".
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