Lees-Galloway Iain: Crown Entities Reform Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Lees-Galloway Iain: Crown Entities Reform Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 23 May 2012. Volume:680;Page:2370. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Labour—Palmerston North) 
: 
 That was an interesting contribution from the Minister of State Services and I would like to just respond to some of the points that the Minister raised. He seems to think that the concerns about this Crown Entities Reform Bill have actually been dreamt up by the Opposition. 
Hon Simon Bridges 
: That’s right. 
IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY 
: That could not be further from the truth Mr Bridges because all that the Opposition members are relaying to the Government tonight are the concerns that were brought to the Government Administration Committee by the non-governmental organisations and the charitable sector that this piece of legislation will actually be directly affecting. This is about listening to the people who are working at the front line. That is all this is about—about listening to their concerns listening to what they want to see happen in their sector listening to the fact that they have said and acknowledged that there is a review coming up that a review is appropriate and that the only sensible logical thing you do when there is a review coming up is you wait for that review and then you sort out your structure afterwards. Form should follow function not the other way round but this is typical of this illogical Government which has no sensible plan for anything. It certainly does not have a sensible plan for the charitable sector. So this is not just about the Opposition scaremongering.  
I love the way the Minister says “Trust us. Trust us. There’s nothing to see here nothing to worry about nothing to worry about nothing to worry about.” He kept on saying it over and over— 
Hon Member 
: “I’m here. I’m here to help.” 
IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY 
: That is right. I do not know how many times he said in 5 minutes “There’s nothing to worry about.” Personally I start to worry when Jonathan Coleman says there is nothing to worry about. Ask the navy personnel who used to man the inshore patrol vessels about being told by Jonathan Coleman there was nothing to worry about. But then Mr Coleman went on to say that the functions are going to remain; nothing is going to change. So I ask what the point is. What is the point of this structural change which is going to cost money? It is going to cost money. The Minister says it is going to cost about $400000. Well from previous experience we know that means it is going to cost at least $800000 and probably more especially by the time all the consultants have been paid off. Yet this is all for nothing. The Minister himself said this is all for nothing—nothing is going to change for the charitable sector. So the Minister plans on spending money he says to make the public sector more efficient. 
Hon Simon Bridges 
: I can’t believe what I’m hearing from this member. 
IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY 
: Sorry? 
Hon Simon Bridges 
: I can’t believe what I’m hearing from this member. 
IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY 
: You have not been listening very closely then have you Mr Bridges? This is according to the Minister all about making the public sector more efficient but time and time again we have seen the so-called efficiencies that the Government seems to think can be achieved by this kind of system of mergers and acquisitions within the public sector. All we see are additional costs additional pain jobs losses and people at the front line having to pick up the work that was previously done by those poor back-office bureaucrats who are so much maligned by this Government because they are out of sight and are an easy target. Maligned sacked and persecuted—there are a number of words that you could use for the people who actually perform the very important administrative functions of the public sector. Again they are going to be under attack here. It is bad enough for those people but of course what is even worse is that once they are gone the people on the front line have to pick up those jobs. The jobs do not disappear; the work does not disappear. It still has to be done but now instead by the people on the front line.  
Actually I would not be surprised if some of that work gets passed on to the charitable sector so that it has to start picking up that additional work and then again the Government will be able to say “Oh we are making things more efficient because we have actually passed on those costs.” 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Contracting them out. 
IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY 
: By contracting them out—that is exactly right. How many times have we seen that from this Government?  
I thought that was a very very interesting contribution from the Minister but as you can see it is very very easy to pick it apart. It is very easy to pick apart this Government’s argument on these changes which are simply about doing what it can to appear to be making the public sector more efficient and to appear to be cutting costs within the public sector. But of course what we have seen time and time again and from experience is that there could be nothing further from the truth.