Public Service cuts must be put in context

Responding to numerous reports in media relating to the number of jobs cuts in the Public Service, the Taxpayers’ Union is encouraging the media to put those cuts in context by referencing the more than 18,000 FTE growth in the bureaucracy since 2017, compared with just 3900 proposed redundancies.

The Taxpayers’ Union has released a video putting these cuts in context, alongside a 4-metre high art installation in the Beehive. That video can be watched here: https://youtu.be/yNrkcwafB7M

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“From 2017 to 2023, the Public Service grew by 18,418 – a 39% increase in just six years.

“But despite the eye-watering growth, core public services have continued to decline. The bloat has seen New Zealanders paying more but getting less.

“The art installation puts Nicola Willis’ proposed cuts in context, highlighting that they are a drop in the ocean compared to the ballooning of the bureaucracy we saw under Grant Robertson. It’s time for Nicola Willis to ignore the crocodile tears of the Unions and opposition parties and go further and faster to cut wasteful spending as promised to voters.”