First steps to untangling Government underway

“Today’s legislation merging four ministries into one is a step in the right direction, but those flashing lights on the dashboard won’t turn off unless we make the Government even smaller and more accountable,” ACT Leader David Seymour says.

“Last year I floated the idea of a smaller Government at the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce. On Sunday, in my State of the Nation speech, I set out why New Zealand can’t afford to continue being over-governed.

“Today the Government has begun merging the Ministries for the Environment, Transport, Housing and Urban Development, and parts of the Department of Internal Affairs into one Ministry. Done properly, this will save New Zealanders time and money and sharpen the focus on supporting Kiwis to get stuff built.

“There are other obvious areas where the same approach should be adopted. The Ministries for Ethnic Communities, Women, Pacific Peoples, Seniors, Youth, and Māori Development should be merged within Arts, Culture and Heritage. That would be more coherent than having a litter of small agencies spending time and money justifying their existence instead of one ministry focussed on delivering essential services.

“Most of these ministries replicate work which is already be done in policy ministries or the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, yet each agency has its own chief executive equivalent, comms department, policy shop, ministerial servicing, HR, finance, reporting, strategies, and consultation processes. Consolidation cuts duplication and frees up resources. In other words, taxpayers will pay less but receive the same or better services.

“If we’re going to make life affordable again, raise productivity, balance the budget and restore faith in our democracy, we need to sort out the size of Government so it is affordable and responsive. ACT will continue to release more details on how we would make the Government smaller and more accountable throughout this year.

“Other countries show this can be done. Norway, a similar-sized country, governs with 20 ministers across 17 coherent ministries. Ireland, with a similar population to New Zealand, has sixteen ministries.

“Today’s merger is a good start. ACT will make sure it doesn’t end there.”