Mitchell Mark: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Mitchell Mark: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 30 August 2012. Volume:683;Page:4984. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
3. 
MARK MITCHELL (National—Rodney) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: What progress is the Government making with its Better Public Services plan? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Acting Minister of Finance) 
: 
 The Government is making excellent progress with the Better Public Services programme which is working to produce a more efficient and focused Public Service. Some weeks ago the Prime Minister announced 10 specific Better Public Services results on which the Government is determined to see real progress in the next 5 years. One of them for example is that in 5 years’ time we expect 85 percent of 18-year-olds to have National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) level 2 or its equivalent up from 68 percent now. The Government yesterday released two further action plans to achieve those results: one on how we will achieve that NCEA target and the other on how to ensure that in the next 5 years 55 percent of 25 to 34-year-olds will have a level 4 tertiary qualification or above. These are serious targets and also serious action plans for what are very important milestones for New Zealand’s future. 
Mark Mitchell 
: Are the targets the Government has set actually achievable? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: Well they are very challenging targets as was made clear in the Budget speech. Achieving these results will be demanding and in fact meeting some of them will be quite difficult but they are very worthwhile targets for New Zealand. For example if we can achieve our target of reducing prisoner reoffending by 25 percent in 5 years we are talking about 18500 fewer victims of crime each year. And when we set a target of 55 percent of 25 to 34-year-olds having a level 4 qualification or higher by 2017 that means an extra 17750 people over and above population growth and the increase we would expect from current policies to achieve qualifications at level 4 and above. These targets are very real very important and very measurable. 
Mark Mitchell 
: How will the Better Public Services plan contribute to New Zealand’s improved economic performance? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: The Better Public Services programme is working to ensure that there is a more efficient public sector and therefore less waste of taxpayers’ money. It will also help lift public sector productivity and therefore wider productivity across New Zealand. The programme also has broader and more important objectives of reducing long-term costs to the State. For example if we boost levels of skills and employment amongst young people not only will their own life prospects be enhanced but so too will New Zealand’s productivity be lifted. As the Better Public Services Advisory Group said reducing welfare dependency improving education health and environmental outcomes and creating a better environment for business investment and export success are where the real gains are to be made. 
Mark Mitchell 
: Are legislative changes involved in the Better Public Services plan? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: Yes. Today the Government— 
Grant Robertson 
: This really is quite painful. 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: The Opposition hates hearing about targets and progress in the public sector. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! [ 
Interruption 
] Order! I accept that there has been some interjection but the Minister is somewhat the master of that in taking a little too long to answer. 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: The reality is that members opposite do not want to hear these things. That is why they make it sound like it is taking a long time. These are very excellent initiatives. Today the Government introduced the State Sector and Public Finance Reform Bill which as my colleague the Minister of State Services Jonathan Coleman says delivers “the legislative grunt to deliver better public services”. Amongst other measures the bill provides for Government agencies to collaborate more organise themselves around results and share functions and services that allow them to better leverage the scale of the State sector. The bill extends the responsibilities of chief executives as they consider the collective interest of the whole Government not the narrow focus— 
Grant Robertson 
: I seek leave for Mr Joyce to table the rest of his answer. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member cannot seek leave for another member to table a document. I think the Minister has had sufficient time to answer however.