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'We need to consolidate': NZI board chair welcomes Govt plan to cut public service roles

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 19 May 2026, 5:33pm
Finance Minister Nicola Willis during her economic update in her Beehive office, Parliament, Wellington, New Zealand, April 23, 2026. Herald photograph by Mark Mitchell
Finance Minister Nicola Willis during her economic update in her Beehive office, Parliament, Wellington, New Zealand, April 23, 2026. Herald photograph by Mark Mitchell

'We need to consolidate': NZI board chair welcomes Govt plan to cut public service roles

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Tue, 19 May 2026, 5:33pm

The New Zealand Initiative is praising Government plans to slash almost 9,000 public service roles by mid-2029.

It also intends to reduce Government departments and immediately start cutting agency budgets. 

The free-market think tank says it's a great step, but ministerial portfolios should also be cut. 

Board chair Roger Partridge says there's too much duplication. 

"Some policy areas, like housing, report to as many as 10 different portfolio-holding ministers - and some departments, like MBIE, report to over 20 ministers."

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