Ministry merger a great start -ACT

"Merging four ministries into one is a taste of what the Government should be doing all day long," says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“In May I spoke to the Tauranga Business Chamber, saying ‘We currently have 82 ministerial portfolios... held by 28 ministers. And under them, we have 41 separate government departments…’ These comments were dismissed at the time, but they have become real.

“Ireland, a country with the same-sized population as New Zealand has sixteen ministries. Today’s merger is a step in the right direction, but there is more to do. A smaller, more efficient Government would have 20 ministers, and no more than 30 ministries.

“The advantage of a smaller Government is greater efficiency. Under ACT’s proposal, which we will take to the election, no minister would have more than two departments, no department would have more than one minister.

“Right now, some ministers have seven portfolios and one department answers to 23 ministers. Everybody has a boss, but 23 is ridiculous. If we want government that’s responsive to the people, it needs to have an organisational chart that doesn’t look like a bowl of spaghetti.

“This merger will improve Government’s focus on supporting Kiwis to get stuff built, and we shouldn’t stop here.”