Summarised by Centrist
The government is calling for a 6.5% reduction in the public service including at the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). Lindsay Mitchell says “Looking at MSD’s core responsibilities it is fair to say the extra 39% staff added in the last 5 years has achieved no improvement.”
Of course, this has not stopped the leftwing media and politicians calling the cuts cruel and disgraceful, says Mitchell.
She calls out RNZ’s sensationalist headline saying MSD has called for “mass” voluntary redundancies. In reality, all those extra staff have not helped MSD achieve its goal of helping New Zealanders “to be safe, strong, and independent”.
The proof is in the pudding as Mitchell accurately points out that there are more people on benefits and for longer than ever before despite the swelling in ranks of MSD staff since 2017.
She further argues that the planned staff cuts will not revert the public service to 2017/18 staffing levels.
“They will merely continue the growth of government in the entrenched 3 steps forward – 1 step back pattern that has become all too familiar over many decades,” she says.
