The Government’s core public service headcount has shot up by more than 28% since Labour took office, as department sizes inflate across the country.

 

Between 2017 and 2021, the number of core public servants (excluding the Government Communications Security Bureau and the Security Intelligence Service, which don’t publish figures) has grown from 48,000 to almost 62,000.

 

The figures were obtained from publicly available data on the Public Service Commission’s website.

 

A breakdown of staff types was gleaned from departmental annual reviews.

Oranga Tamariki’s headcount increased from 3424 to 5118 – a 49% jump.

Statistics New Zealand staff numbers went from 976 to 1410 – a 44% increase

 

MBIE grew from 3450 to 5301 – a 53% increase.

 

Education grew from 2998 to 4296 – a 43% increase

 

The Ministry of Health grew from 1097 to 1680, growth which mostly occurred over the period of Covid-19 pandemic.

 

The Ministry of Social Development grew from 6921 to 9313.

 

The Ministry for the Environment almost doubled the number of people it employed.

 

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency employs more than 100 people in human resources.

 

What New Zealanders are seeing is more people working in public service departments, but they’re not seeing the actual benefit in terms of better outcomes in terms of the services that they need whether it’s health, education, law and order that’s going backwards.”

 

The consultancy bill for Crown agencies, organisations such as Waka Kotahi, ACC and Fire and Emergency New Zealand, has shot up since 2017, from $308m to $402m to 2020-21.

 

A survey of departmental annual reviews shows communications staff have increased significantly across the public service, by 158 to 497 – a 47% increase.

 

Across Crown agencies, the number has grown by 43% to 309. Combined, there are more than 800 communications staff; in both Government departments and Crown agencies – an increase of over 250, or 45%, since 2017.

 

Not all departments have increased their headcount – Inland Revenue shrunk from 5519 to 4210 workers but there has been considerable growth across the breadth of the system through the smart use of IT.

 

Across the sector, annual reports show there are about 33% more managers

and more than 40% more clerical and administrative personnel. Increased costs and increasing staffing didn’t match the actual service delivery.

 

If we look at literacy rates, look at crime, look at the potholes on our roads, actually look at the outcomes that people care about; all the public see is the number of people working in departments increasing but what they get, at the end of the day, getting worse.

 

In transport, there has been a massive increase in headcount for human resource professionals at Waka Kotahi. According to an answer by Transport Minister Michael Wood to written parliamentary questions, there are now 118 people employed in human resources in the agency, up from just over 50 in 2018.

 

That figure included a range of people not usually included in traditional HR functions, the agency said, such as health & safety (13), the Emerging Professionals Programme (25) and Covid response team (2).

 

Waka Kotahi also said the growth had been to support the extra work the Government’s projects such as the NZ Upgrade Programme, Road to Zero campaign and climate change requirements.

 

A report into New Zealand’s road safety strategy has found there is little accountability of spending by the Transport Agency and Police, which have struggled to deliver results.

 

The review, commissioned by the Ministry of Transport, found senior managers at the agencies have a good understanding of the “Road to Zero” strategy.

 

But delivery of the strategy hasn’t been as expected.

 

In my opinion, given the Labour government’s history of expansion of the public service numbers up till 2021 (which is as far as figures are available), it is reasonable to assume that the numbers have risen more up to the current date.

 

There must come a time when we get to the point where those workers employed in the private sector cannot afford to pay enough taxes to carry the weight of the public servants and others that are living off government incomes.

 

We have the highest inflation rates seen for many years, hugely increased numbers of homeless persons, the largest waiting lists ever for social housing, exorbitant levels of rents and the largest levels of government debt ever yet this government is persisting in creating more positions in the public service to go with their ideology of increased central government control and co-governance.

 

We have costs rising steeply, government outcomes failing virtually at every turn, and a government that cannot see past its own closed off internal ideological view of the world yet still expects the taxpayers to fund their impractical undemocratic race based policies in the face of the out of control cost of living increases.

 

It has to come to an end as the taxpayers of NZ cannot afford to keep funding this government’s failing policies and I believe this government will find this out at the general election next year when the NZ public get the opportunity to show them what they are thinking, through the ballot box.