Hipkins ChrisPUBLIC SERVICE BILLPUBLIC FINANCE AMENDMENT BILLThird ReadingsHon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of State Services): I move That the Public Service Bill and the Public Finance Amendment Bill be now read a third time. Now these bills repeal the State Sector Act 1988 and replace it with the Public Service Act 2020 and make amendments to the Public Finance Act 1989. This is a very significant day for the New Zealand Public Service. Before I get into the detail of the bills I do want to take a moment to acknowledge our hard-working and dedicated public servants up and down the country. There is no doubt that in a time of emergency we see the Public Service at its very best. We see our public servants going out of their way to ensure that New Zealanders get the support that they need in extraordinary and often very very difficult circumstances. What a time of emergency also highlights however is that our Public Service sometimes strains under that pressure when it requires joined-up Government approaches when all aspects of Government need to work together hand in glove to provide New Zealanders with the type of support that they need. So this these bills deal with some of the biggest impediments to that collaborative and joined-up approach that we expect to see from our Public Service.We do need to see the Public Service organising itself much more around the needs of New Zealanders the needs of New Zealand businesses rather than organising around the needs of the Public Service. The State Sector Act 1988 was a watershed piece of legislation that fundamentally changed the way a large part of our governing apparatus in New Zealand operates. It has had many many strengths. It certainly strengthened the accountability of the Public Service with regard to the efficient use of public resources. It strengthened the lines of accountability between chief executives of those departments and Ministers and between the chief executives and those working underneath them and that was of course a very welcome development at the time.But what it has done over time is it's reinforced a view that the Public Service should operate in silos. The reality is New Zealanders do not live their life in silos. We do not wake up every morning thinking I'm going to attend to my education needs at a certain part of the day and then I'm going to attend to my health needs and then I'm going to attend to my other needs." Actually we've got to have public services that can work and operate around the needs of New Zealanders all of the time and I believe that these bills will go a significant way to ensuring the Public Service can do that. We've got a Public Service that is incredibly well respected by New Zealanders and around the world and that is something that we should all be very proud of. So the bills help us to reconnect with a spirit of service to the community. It reconnects us by unifying the Public Service around a common purpose principles and values something that has been sorely lacking from the State Sector Act. It will ensure that the Public Service operates with integrity and continues to earn and retain the trust confidence and respect of New Zealanders. A review of the statutory framework for the Public Service the State Sector Act 1988 was carried out in 2019. There was extensive public consultation before legislation was drafted. I do want to commend those working at the State Services Commission for a very robust process. These bills didn't just emerge out of nothing; there was a very robust consultation process in which people had the opportunity to put forward their views on the strengths and weaknesses of our existing arrangements. Consultation occurred based on several aims. One was affirming the constitutional role of the Public Service in supporting New Zealand's democratic form of Government. That's very important. The Public Service does not stand alone from Government. It is the delivery arm of Government and the constitutional role of the Public Service is to support the elected Government of the day. The reforms occur around the goal to create a more modern agile and adaptive Public Service and of course to deliver better outcomes and better services for New Zealanders.So I'll briefly touch on each of the parts of the bills. Part 1 of the Public Service 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 commitment to its relationship with Māori something that has not been well captured by legislation in the past and it affirms the spirit of service to the community that public servants bring to their work every day and I think every one of us can attest to that. We see that in our local communities.Part 2 very significantly provides a wider range of more flexible organisational forms for the Public Service. These will enable the Public Service to respond more effectively and quickly to multi-disciplinary cross-agency issues and challenges and to the changing priorities of the Government of the day—of course Government priorities do change from time to time and particularly when there's a change of Government.Part 3 concerns the people working in the Public Service. It begins with an expanded leadership role for the Public Service Commissioner. The new name—being the Public Service Commissioner replacing the State Services Commissioner—I think better accurately reflects the nature of the role. It also creates a more joined-up leadership of the Public Service and provides for new future and system-level leadership roles. The good employer provisions carried over from the State Sector Act 1988 are modernised with explicit reference to diverse and inclusive workplaces and the workforce pay equity and recognition that remuneration decisions must be made free of gender and other bias something that this Parliament has been working hard to achieve.Part 4 relates to the Government workforce policy and the use of workforce policy statements to set out the Government's guidance and expectations for agencies on employment and workforce matters. Parts 5 and 6 carry over some of the necessary provisions from the State Sector Act 1988 and address other technical matters including the repeals. And Part 7 covers the amendments to the Public Finance Act that are required to allow for the increased flexibility in working arrangements created by departmental agencies and to account for the new Public Service organisational forms.So to sum this up it is a very big day for the New Zealand Public Service. There has been several years of considered work that has gone into creating these bills. I do want to thank all of those who have been involved in the process. It's a piece of work that I am very proud of. I commend these bills to the House."