6. Question No. 6—Public ServiceANGIE WARREN-CLARK (Labour) to the Minister for the Public ServiceQuestion No. 6—Public Service6. ANGIE WARREN-CLARK (Labour) to the Minister for the Public Service: What reports has he seen about proposals for changes to the Public Service?Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister for the Public Service): Our Public Service supports the Government of the day to implement its policies and programmes. The Public Service does vital work such as making sure businesses and workers are supported through fair and balanced law; educating our kids; fixing roads rail bridges and houses after natural disasters; and assisting with solving long-term intractable problems like good environmental planning safe water in the future responding to climate change and so on. The latest Kiwis Count survey reported that 82 percent of New Zealanders trust public services and that compares to the OECD average of just 50 percent. I've seen reports on proposals to integrate CERT New Zealand into the National Cyber Security Centre to strengthen the country's cyber-security resilience and response. That's a proposal the Government accepted by the way. Also I've seen reports on proposals to improve national security leadership through organisational reform something that this Government is doing. But I've also seen various reports of proposals to cut 7300 Public Service workers in the Wellington region and 14000 nationwide including halving the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) workforce. All of these proposals would make it more difficult for any elected Government to implement its policies and would see significant cuts to vital services that Kiwis and our economy rely on. This Government has no plans to do that.Angie Warren-Clark: What would be the effects of a reported halving of MBIE public services?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: MBIE contains a number of functions that are crucial to successful economic activities. Halving MBIE's workforce would mean it could not have processed the tens of thousands of visas for the FIFA Women's World Cup that contributed $200 million to our economy. MBIE would not be able to process the hundreds of thousands of other visas which are the basis of our reinvigorated tourism sector or the thousands of working holiday green list and skilled migrant visas for nurses and other health workers urgently needed by our health sector. Halving MBIE's workforce would limit the support for our film and games industries which employ thousands of people or our emerging space industry. It would prevent the new Grocery Commissioner from starting his work to make grocery prices fair and supermarket shopping affordable and there's much more. This Labour Government has no plans to reduce the capacity of Government in these vital areas.Angie Warren-Clark: What would be the effect of some of the other reported proposals about public services?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: One of the proposals I've seen is in relation to the Ministry for Women. That proposal would halt the Women's Employment Action Plan closing the gender pay gap which has narrowed under this Government but still stands at 9.2 percent. Another reported proposal in relation to the Ministry for Pacific Peoples would mean abandoning the 2700 people who have enrolled in programmes to support their pathway to homeownership as well as the 1350 people that the ministry has supported in jobs over the past year. A reported proposal in relation to Te Arawhiti the Office for Māori Crown Relations would significantly slow settling remaining claims related to the Crown's historical breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi and would slow or stop the work within Crown agencies and departments adopting modern Treaty relationships to address longstanding equity problems. This Labour Government has no plans to reduce capacity in these areas.Angie Warren-Clark: What other effects would a reported reduction of 14000 core public servants have?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: It's likely that programmes like Mycoplasma bovis eradication and responding to the pandemic and natural disasters could not be staffed. It would also restrict the ability to develop initiatives such as targeted children's vaccination programmes for those missing out and policy responses to organised and violent crime. This Labour Government remains committed to having a Public Service able to meet the needs of all New Zealanders.Angie Warren-Clark: What would be the effect on the Wellington regional economy of a reported proposed reduction of 7000 public servants who ordinarily work here?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: The public sector is responsible for 12 percent of the Wellington region's GDP. The hit to the Wellington economy would be in the region of $1 billion per annum. This Labour Government remains committed to a Public Service providing the services that New Zealanders need and developing solutions for long-term difficult challenges rather than repeatedly kicking the hard policy cans down the road.