Hipkins ChrisPUBLIC SERVICE LEGISLATION BILLSecond ReadingHon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of State Services): I move That the Public Service Legislation Bill be now read a second time. Members of the House will note that this bill has not been reported by the Governance and Administration Committee after following its consideration. It has been sent back to the House without the committee deliberating on the bill and therefore I intend to table a Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) in the committee stage that will pick up the recommendations in the departmental report that were the result of the committee's deliberations on the bill and encapsulates the feedback provided by submitters. The bill aims to deliver better outcomes and better services to New Zealand to create a modern agile and adaptive Public Service and to affirm the important constitutional role the Public Service has in supporting New Zealand's democratic Government. I've enjoyed my time in the House a little too much today as you might hear from my voice. Crises often bring out the best in our public servants and they often drive the type of behaviour that this bill is incentivising that encourages Government to join up together to deliver better outcomes for New Zealanders. It's too easy though for that spirit of collaboration to start to disappear once the emergency has passed. Conventional conceptions of agency autonomy they tend to reassert themselves as do the more conventional modes of leadership. We know that as we head into the COVID-19 recovery phase we're going to need Government agencies in all aspects and all areas of government to work together in a much more coordinated fashion to support all New Zealanders our people our businesses our community organisations through the recovery phase. And this bill helps to provide us with the tools to make that happen. We need to maintain that impetus towards a joined-up Public Service that we saw during COVID-19. We need to support innovation and responsiveness in the way we did during the lockdown period. We need our Public Service to work as a single Public Service not a series of silos. The Public Service Legislation Bill is an omnibus bill that results in a new Public Service Act and amendments to the Public Finance Act 1989. The first six parts of the bill will become the Public Service Act and they'll repeal and replace the existing State Sector Act. Part 7 of the bill will become the Public Finance Amendment Act which will provide the necessary financial powers and reporting obligations for the new organisational arrangements that are contained in the new Public Service Act. Part 1 of the bill clearly establishes the purpose principles and values of an apolitical Public Service. It recognises the role of the Public Service in supporting the Crown and its commitments to its relationships with Māori. It affirms the spirit of service to the community that public servants bring to their work every day and that they have been showcasing during the COVID-19 emergency situation. These provisions of the bill relating to the principles and values were overwhelmingly supported by submitters. There are some important principles of the way our Public Service operates that many including myself as a member of Parliament were surprised to learn are not enshrined in legislation. The law does not currently create requirements around political neutrality around merit-based appointment around free and frank advice—around so many of the constitutional conventions that we take for granted in our public servants. This bill addresses that anomaly and makes sure that those things are reflected in the Act. Part 1 of the bill deals with those issues. It also deals with issues around the Public Service identity. One of the things that surprises me about New Zealand—and we are different to other places in the world like this—if you ask a public servant what they do for a living they'll typically describe the department or agency that they work for. If you ask them that question in many other countries they will say I'm a public servant." That's not part of the New Zealand lexicon and it should be quite frankly and we should be proud of that. There's been discussion about whether the bill should specifically refer to the obligation of the Public Service to uphold the law. One would think that that would be rather obvious. But there's been careful consideration by the committee as to whether the bill should contain an explicit reference to human rights law and to obligations. We've listened very carefully to the debate over this and consequently the SOP will make it very clear that the Public Service does need to respect and uphold all of New Zealand's laws. And it makes it readily apparent that that includes the relevant human rights laws. Part 2 of the bill provides for a wider range of more flexible organisational forms in the Public Service. The State Sector Act created a series of nice neat vertical silos within the Public Service and we know that that does not lend itself well to joined-up public service and to joined-up reactions and responses. This was something that successive Governments over the 90s and in the early 2000s and even up to today have grappled with and various different things have been tried: departmental joint ventures cross-agency working groups social investment the Social Investment Board—these are examples of the sorts of approaches that have been tried by different Governments to address this challenge. The Public Service legislation that we are introducing today creates some new opportunities to create that kind of joined up Public Service that we all want to see. Part 3 concerns the people working in the Public Service including the role of the Public Service Commissioner and the two deputy commissioners. It provides for the commissioner to establish a Public Service leadership team that will create system-level leadership and a system that at the moment has quite excessive devolution. In terms of the employment ceilings the bill provides for several means to ease the strict boundaries between agencies to ensure that there can be better mobility of staff between agencies. The bill reinforces the point that was made by the very first Public Service bill that New Zealand passed early in the last century of merit-based appointment. It is something that is fundamental to the way our Public Service operates and it's something that we should all be jealously guarding. No one should get a job in the Public Service because of who they know; they should get a job because they are the best person for the job. And the bill enshrines that basic principle that our Public Service has operated on for the last 130-odd years. It puts it back. Hon Gerry Brownlee: Well the member might not have got a job. Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Thankfully that principle doesn't apply to democracy Mr Brownlee as the member should be well aware. Part 4 relates to Government workforce policy and the bill expands the range of agencies that must have regard to Government workforce policy statements and specifies in more detail the matters that might be encompassed in that. Parts 5 and 6 accomplish the carry-over of some necessary provisions from the State Sector Act and address other technical matters including the repeals. Part 7 deals with the changes to the Public Finance Act which ensures as we move to more flexible working arrangements and new types of Public Service organisation that we're still maintaining strong accountability when it comes to the expenditure of public finance. The bill will support the collaborative and cohesive Public Service that we know is going to be necessary to address the very complex needs of New Zealanders in the COVID-19 recovery phase. They span different agency boundaries. We need the Public Service to work together in a joined-up way that's based on the needs of New Zealanders rather than the needs of the individual Public Service agencies and this bill moves us very progressively in that direction. I commend the bill to the House."