24 March 2014

MEDIA STATEMENT
Immediate Release

Stakeholders up for more engagement with the Treasury

The Treasury has released the results of a survey of business, government, education, social services, not-for-profit, Maori and media stakeholders. The survey was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the Treasury’s stakeholder engagement, and shows a strong appetite for more interaction with the department.

“We want to make sure we’re communicating effectively about important policy issues, and that our advice is informed by reality as people experience it on a day to day basis,” says Gabriel Makhlouf, Chief Executive and Secretary to the Treasury.

“Over the last couple of years we’ve been getting out of Wellington more often and talking to a more diverse range of people. The survey is one way of judging how well we’re doing on that front, and what we could do better.”

The online survey was conducted in September/October 2013; a total of 732 stakeholders the Treasury had engaged with over the last year were invited to participate. A total of 235 responses (32%) were received from across a range of sectors.

The survey covers the following broad topics:

• The nature of interactions between the Treasury and stakeholders
• Satisfaction with recent interactions
• Perceptions of the Treasury as an organisation
• Communication from the Treasury
• Dialogue with stakeholders
• The Treasury’s leadership role (in economics and the State sector)
• Overall satisfaction regarding interactions with the Treasury
• The Treasury’s Living Standards Framework
• Perceptions about changes at the Treasury in the past two years

The full survey results are available here: www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/informationreleases/stakeholders

“The survey shows that a large proportion of respondents (55%) have noticed a change in the way the Treasury expresses itself, and that we’re behaving differently (40%). In particular people agree we’re talking to a wider range of stakeholders, and there’s a sense that we are more open to new ideas and ways of thinking.”

“We still have work to do to build stronger relationships across the board but there’s a real demand for more engagement with the Treasury, which is great. Stakeholders are telling us that the door is open for meaningful discussions about the tough issues we need to crack for New Zealand. We see that as a big opportunity.”

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