New report a wake-up call for the lazy public service

20 AUGUST 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

It’s absurd for public servants to demand more money when a new Productivity Commission report, Improving state sector productivity, shows that public sector productivity has been poor, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.

Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Jordan Williams says, “Public sector unions disrespect taxpayers but significant pay rises, without delivering higher productivity. The new report, which highlights poor public sector performance, should serve as a wake-up call for complacent, unproductive, taxpayer-funded agencies.”

“We especially agree with the Commission Chair’s comment that it is not sustainable to simply keep hiring more people to address pressures in the public service. We need to start cutting down on non-essential roles to free up resources for core services, and tying pay to performance.”

“The report’s findings are common-sense, but have already generated suspicion from the Public Service Association. The PSA’s resistance to this report is pure self-interest – their motivation is to make life easier for their members, not to deliver value for taxpayers.”

“With the damning findings by the Productivity Commission, we’re calling on the State Services Commissioner to front up and explain how he is going to raise the bar.”

The recent Taxpayers’ Union report, Public Sector Wage Gap: The taxpayer-funded premium for working for the government, showed that despite their demands for more pay, public servants already earn 34.6 percent more than the average private sector worker.

ENDS

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