Luxon cites staffing cap when challenged over rising public-sector salary offers

Summarised by Centrist

Christopher Luxon pointed to a cap on public-service staffing when asked why advertised salaries in the public sector were reportedly rising faster than in other sectors, despite the Government’s cost-cutting programme.

During an interview on Newstalk ZB, Mike Hosking cited Seek job-advertisement data showing a 10% annual increase and a 2.5% quarterly rise.

“I’ve got no idea, that shouldn’t be happening because we have a cap down on the FTEs in the system,” Luxon replied, referring to full-time-equivalent staff numbers.

Pressed on how the increase was possible, he said: “I don’t know, that’s not what we want to see.”

A staffing cap limits employee numbers rather than salary rates. Luxon’s response did not explain the reported increase or whether it was affecting the Government’s expected savings.

“We’ve laid out very clearly where we want to get the size of the public service down to,” he said.

Luxon also promised “quite radical structural change” in a second term, saying National wanted to simplify agencies and reduce duplication.

Editor’s note: The figures discussed concern salaries advertised for vacancies. 

They do not establish that existing public servants received an across-the-board 10% pay rise.

The report does not detail the measure’s coverage, whether the mix of advertised positions changed, or whether the overall public-sector wage bill increased.

Read more at The NZ Herald

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