Voters Must Be In Charge, Not The Bureaucratic Priesthood
by ACT New Zealand · SCOOP“Reports in today’s Sunday Star-Times about the ‘bureaucratic priesthood’ of the public service provides another insight into why it's essential the next Government takes the power back from the bureaucrats and returns it to the people who elect the Government,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“Research conducted by the New Zealand Initiative reportedly finds that around 20 per cent of policy advisers and their managers aren't prepared to accept the results of an election or the coalition agreements that follow. Only 60 per cent agree that democratically elected ministers should decide policy and trade-offs.
“That means four out of every ten respondents didn't agree that elected ministers should make the policy decisions. If the politicians elected by the people aren't making the decisions, who is? The bureaucratic management class in Wellington believe they're the ones in charge, which is why voters throughout the rest of the country find the public service doesn't really work for them.
“I wish I could say I was surprised by the figures, but over the last three years in Government, two things have become apparent about the public service.
“First, it's enormous, and too tangled to act. Housing, infrastructure, welfare dependency, crime, and health all cut across multiple agencies. When seven departments share a problem, it stops being anyone's job to solve it. Kiwis are left frustrated, bouncing between departments or denied straight answers.
“Second, the lines of accountability are broken. Ministers are held responsible for the performance of their departments, but they don't appoint the chief executives who run them. Those appointments are controlled by the Public Service Commission, a bureaucracy that is effectively accountable to itself.
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“The result is an enormous Government that costs taxpayers billions, struggles to deliver change, and too often appears more interested in maintaining its own processes than delivering results.
“ACT has a plan to fix this.
“We would reduce the number of Ministers from 28 to 18 and consolidate 43 departments into 19. Departments would generally report to one Minister, who would be accountable for their budget and outcomes.
“We would also remove the Public Service Commission and allow Ministers to appoint chief executives on fixed terms, renewable once. Chief executives who fail to perform or are unwilling to implement the Government's lawful policy direction could be removed, subject to specified grounds and protections.
“Effectively, Ministers will have the ability to sack Chief Executives who are not prepared to carry out the will of the people. The “bureaucratic priesthood” will have their clerical lanyards removed.
“ACT would also reset the public service around the basic principles of equal treatment, individual freedom, political and religious neutrality, and accountability for results.
“We would end race-based hiring requirements by repealing section 73 of the Public Service Act and section 118 of the Crown Entities Act, legally enforce need before race in the delivery of public services, and stop public service employers from using taxpayer resources to initiate spiritual practices.
“We've already passed a Need Not Race Cabinet circular, but a circular is only as effective as the willingness of departments to follow it. Unsurprisingly considering this report, many departments ignored it. ACT would put the principle into law so that decisions which breach it could be challenged in court.
“The Coalition Government has accepted the argument for a smaller Government, but current changes are tinkering around the edges. Kiwis are tired of piecemeal change that takes forever. 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.
“New Zealand needs a smaller, more efficient government if we are going to balance the books, lift wages, restore trust in democracy, and unlock New Zealand's potential."
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