9. JOHN KEY (National—Helensville) Link to this
to the Minister of Finance
Does he stand by his statement yesterday that he will be taking a clear line with State sector CEOs on labour costs, and will he be stressing this objective to his colleague the Associate Minister of Finance, as he oversees the forthcoming State sector spending reviews?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Minister of Finance) Link to this
Yes. And the Associate Minister is certainly well aware of those matters already.
Does the Minister agree with Treasury’s assessment that there is little information to indicate that New Zealanders are getting more services and better results from the public sector in return for the large increases in resources provided; if so, was that one of the reasons the Government embarked on the State sector spending review; if not, why is the Government actually conducting the review?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
No, I do not entirely agree with Treasury on that—not if we look at the very large increase in the number of medical procedures being carried out within the hospital sector and at the very large improvements in the provision of primary health care within New Zealand. Also, we have just cited a two-thirds drop in the turnover rate of staff within Child, Youth and Family Services, we have seen an increase in police numbers and the first drop in the crime rate within New Zealand for a very long period of time, we have seen increasing enrolments in the tertiary education sector, and we have seen improved performance in literacy and numeracy at primary school level. I am happy to carry on for as long as you would like me to, Madam Speaker, but I suspect that I have just about used up my time.
Does he agree with Treasury that without reprioritisation, Ministers will find it very difficult to be able to fund new initiatives going forward; if he does agree, where wasted or unwarranted spending is discovered, will he support cutting that wasted and unwarranted expenditure, even if it requires job losses?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
Certainly, Ministers are aware of the need for reprioritisation as part of this year’s Budget process, and of the fact that not everything will be paid for by increased allocations in this year’s Budget round. But I note, yet again, that the member, having shed crocodile tears for some redundancies only a few weeks ago, once again is calling for large job losses in the State sector.
Why does he think there is any chance of achieving real change, when the reviews will be conducted by policy analysts from the agencies concerned, who may themselves be personally affected, and when his good mates in the Public Service Association are closely involved in the reviews?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
Unlike the National Party, we find it good to work with those who are affected by decisions rather than doing the crash-through or “no gain without pain, so-1980s” approach to Government within New Zealand.
Does he agree with Treasury’s own words, when it stated in the briefing to the incoming Government—that was the ideological burp; I am sure he recalls it—[ Interruption]
Madam SPEAKERWe have an imputation here. I have constantly quoted to me a Standing Order that states there should be not be any personal reflections, and I have an intervention as a result of one, which is why we do not have them. Maybe we could start again, please.
Does he agree with Treasury’s own words, when it stated in the briefing to the incoming Government: “A significant proportion has also provided for an expansion of head offices.”; if so, was it the intention that such a dramatic increase in Government spending would be channelled into big glass towers for Government employees to work out of?
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN Link to this
There has been very little by way of new glass towers for Government servants to work out of. What I can say is that—in reflection to some extent upon my own officials—every time they launch a baseline review, as opposed to coming up with suggestions about how to save spending, they agree that spending ought to be increased in the department affected, which is one reason I have now become very leery about baseline reviews.