Gerry Brownlee MP
National Party State Services Spokesman
10 August 2006

King attempts to fudge public sector argument

National is concerned about the increase in back-office staff in the public sector not any increases in nurses, doctors and prison officers, says National Party State Services spokesman Gerry Brownlee.

He was responding today to attempts by State Services Minister Annette King to fudge the issue following the release of National Party research showing how bloated the bureaucracy has become.

"There has been a 64% increase in space leased by Government departments and Crown agencies since 1999, and a 95% rise in policy and administration staff," says Mr Brownlee.

"These people are penpushers - not frontline staff.

"The Minister is trying to run interference on the issue, but the public will see right through it.

"There is a huge difference between frontline staff and the back-office bureaucracy that has eaten up 40% of Wellington's office space under Labour.

"Treasury, in its briefing to the new Labour government, rightly questioned the quality of public sector performance, and asked if the public was getting value for money from the increased spending.

"Treasury said: 'There is little information to indicate that New Zealanders are getting more services and better results from the public sector for the large increases in resource provided. What little information exists is not encouraging."

"The public want value for money from their taxpayer dollars, not more bureaucrats, but that is exactly what Labour has delivered," says Mr Brownlee.

ENDS

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