Former Labour minister says public service is bloated, slow and overpaid

Summarised by Centrist

Former Labour Cabinet minister Kiri Allan has delivered a scathing assessment of New Zealand’s public service. She described its upper levels as bloated, slow and overpaid.

Allan made the comments while promoting her memoir, Go Hard or Go Home, which recounts her political career, resignation from Cabinet and subsequent recovery.

She said the public service contained many excellent people but argued the system was weighed down by senior officials, excessive bureaucracy and institutional resistance to change.

Allan also suggested this was a democratic problem. Some long-serving senior officials could be “more political than any politician” because they understood how to wait out ministers and frustrate policies they did not support.

Allan advocated devolving more decisions and resources to communities rather than continuing to concentrate authority inside Wellington agencies.

However, she said she did not support David Seymour’s approach to reducing the public service, suggesting a broader redesign was required rather than arbitrary reductions in staff numbers.

Allan previously said one of the major frustrations of ministerial office was encountering repeated explanations for why policies could not be implemented.

“There are excellent public servants,” she said in an earlier interview. “But there can be some real challenges with getting things done.”

Allan served as Justice Minister, Regional Development Minister and Minister of Conservation in  Ardern/Hipkins’ Labour government.

Read more over at RNZ

Image: Te Rawhitiroa Bosch

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