Hon Bill English MP
National Party Finance Spokesman

20 December 2006

Razor gang reviews a waste of time

The public service reviews by the so-called razor gangs have proved to be nothing but a total waste of time, says National Party Finance spokesman Bill English.

"Earlier this year, National predicted these reviews would be more akin to a toothpick than a razor gang, and that has turned out to be exactly the case.

"The reviews make it plain that Labour is focussed on big government, not quality government.

"You can never have proper reviews of government department spending by putting them in the hands of the departments concerned.

"Such reviews should be done independently of the organisations that will be affected by them - not by the organisations themselves.

"Sure, some of the reviews have identified improvements that could be made, but no savings are identified for taxpayers.

"Suggesting that Government agencies should work together more to get better results is blindingly obvious, and begs the question why they aren't doing so already.

"National has been increasingly concerned about the continued growth of Government spending, with no clear benefits to the public.

"These reviews show Labour is fascinated by process, but is unable or unwilling to do anything substantive. And Labour certainly isn't prepared to save a buck.

"Is this why hardworking kiwis aren't getting tax cuts?"

ENDS

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