Public Service Capacity Claims Rubbish

A 10% increase in the number of public servants is a sign of "rampant political correctness", according to National Party State Services spokesman Murray McCully.

Mr McCully's commenting after looking further into a claim by State Services Minister Trevor Mallard that figures show the Government is re-building the public service.

Mr McCully says an analysis of employee numbers within individual departments shows "a very worrying trend".

"Under Labour, numbers in the Arts and Culture Ministry have increased 256% (from 15 to 54), and in the Pacific Island Affairs Ministry there has been a 44% increase, from 30 to 42.

"The Environment Ministry has grown by more than a third, swelling 38%, from 102 to 138. And while some allowance needs to be made for the re-integration of special education into the Education Ministry, it has also seen a whopping 256% increase in staff (not including teachers) - from 597 to 1743.

"By stark contrast, the Inland Revenue Department, which is actually collecting a whole lot more tax than a few years ago, has had a staff increase of only 4% during the period. Meanwhile, Treasury has actually suffered an 11% staff cut, from 345 to 309.

"A look behind Mr Mallard's 10% increase reveals a Government increasing staff to resource rampant political correctness in areas like Arts and Pacific Island Affairs, while actually reducing state sector capacity in areas like the Treasury," says Mr McCully.

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