Government "shuffle cards" in State Sector

The Government’s announcement of more cuts, mergers and rationalisations amount to nothing more than ‘shuffling the cards’ and is not the plan we need to turn the economy around, says Labour’s State Services spokesperson Ruth Dyson.

“There is no coherent plan or philosophy here,” Ruth Dyson said. “There is certainly no guarantee there will be any improvement in frontline services.

“National’s ideology tells us there is too much fat in the public service. Anything it thinks it can get away with cutting, it will cut --- without any genuine analysis of the impact on frontline public services.”

Ruth Dyson was commenting on plans announced by Finance Minister Bill English and State Sector Minister Tony Ryall, including a proposal to set up one health promotion agency to take over the relevant functions of ALAC, the Health Sponsorship Council and the Ministry of Health. Other proposals include promoting greater collaboration between organisations such as the Film Commission and Film New Zealand, and the Broadcasting Standards Authority, the Advertising Standards Authority and the Press Council.

“Labour supports high quality public services delivered in the most efficient and effective way. There’s no evidence that what the Government is proposing will deliver either efficiency or effectiveness.

“The irony is that Tony Ryall and Bill English are creating a new bureaucracy --- the better public services advisory group --- in order to reduce bureaucracy,” Ruth Dyson said