The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is commending Public Service Minister Chris Hipkins’s decision to freeze pay for high-earning public servants.

Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “With government debt is set to balloon beyond $100,000 per New Zealand household, this is a prudent measure from Minister Hipkins. It reflects the sacrifices that businesses and employees in the private sector have been forced to make in the wake of COVID-19.”

“We especially commend Minister Hipkins for resisting the Public service Association’s shamelessly self-interested lobbying. A temporary freeze in pay is a more than reasonable price for the extraordinary level of job security enjoyed by public sector workers.”

“We’re calling on local councils to adopt the same measures. The dynamic of spiking debt is just as relevant in the local government sector. In fact, the case for pay restraint at councils is even stronger at councils than for central government, considering the massive rate hikes currently being proposed across the country.”

The Taxpayers’ Union has long campaigned for restraint of public sector pay:

• In 2018 a Taxpayers’ Union research paper revealed that public servants earn, on average, a third more than private sector workers.
• In 2019, the Union unveiled the ‘Rich List’ of highest-earning public sector CEOs.
• In 2020, the Union launched a campaign for public sector pay cuts in response to COVID-19. The campaign was successful.

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