Hon Chris Hipkins
Minister of State Services

14 December 2018

PĀNUI PĀPĀHO
MEDIA STATEMENT

Brakes applied to pay increases for public service chief executives

Minister of State Services Chris Hipkins today welcomed the 2018 State Sector Pay Report, which shows pay increases for chief executives are slowing.

Pay increases for public service chief executives slowed to 0.9% in 2017/18, down from 2% the previous year. And the average pay increase for Crown entity chief executives also dropped to 2.6%, down from the 3.5% average increase in 2016/17.

“This Government is committed to raising pay levels for those on low and middle incomes and curbing increases at the top end,” Chris Hipkins said.

“I expect chief executive pay to continue to slow over the next 12 months as the decision to remove performance pay kicks in.

“State sector chief executives have big important jobs that carry a lot of responsibility and they deserve to be fairly paid, but they are still public servants with an accountability to taxpayers.

“Addressing pay levels in the Public Service is part of the Government’s wider vision for the sector.

“We want, and New Zealanders deserve, a public service with an international reputation for excellence. A public service we can all be proud of.

“We have a plan to close the gender pay gap, we have introduced a living wage for all low-paid public servants and just recently removed performance pay for chief executives,” Chris Hipkins said.

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