Even the Public Service knows Government is too big

“Even the Public Service knows the Governemnt has become too big and fragmented. ACT welcomes reports that Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche wants to reduce the number of agencies,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“Letters released to the media quote Sir Brian saying, ‘we need to move towards fewer agencies (42 down to 15-20), underpinned by common technology and a lot more AI.’

“The Government is too big and too complicated for a country of our size. It costs too much and delivers too little, leaving people angry.

“We need to cut the waste in order to grow the country. ACT already has a plan for how to reform the public service.

“ACT would deliver a smaller, more efficient Government with only 18 Ministers and 19 Departments. That’s what most similar countries have, but we have 28 Ministers and 39 departments, about twice as many as countries of the same size. Saving money needs to start at the top.

“Just like ACT has set the agenda on No New Taxes, we can set the agenda on a smaller and more efficient government.

“The current structure means a Government that is too tangled to act. Housing, infrastructure, welfare dependency, crime, and health all cut across multiple agencies. When seven departments share responsibility for a problem, it can quickly become nobody’s job to solve it.

“It is also expensive. Money spent maintaining duplicated bureaucracies cannot be returned to taxpayers, used to pay down debt, put behind nurses, teachers and police officers, or invested in the infrastructure New Zealand desperately needs.

ACT’s full proposal, ACT’s plan for a consolidated bureaucracy, can be found here.

“ACT’s plan doesn’t cut frontline nurses, teachers, or police. It removes the layers above them and makes the organisations they work in clearer, faster and more accountable.

“ACT has done the work on what the whole system should look like, so a re-elected Government can start implementing it immediately next term.

“That is how we unlock New Zealand’s potential. A Government with clear structure and limits, small enough to be accountable, simple enough to act, and focused on results for New Zealanders rather than managing itself.”