LABOUR AND THE STATE SECTOR

State Services Minister, Simon Upton, reminded New Zealanders today that the State Sector in New Zealand was looking at a burst of almost
unprecedented growth should Labour and the Alliance form a government.

"If you could buy shares in New Zealand bureaucracy under a Labour government, it'd be better than the Internet stocks".

"We have to go back a quarter of a century to the Kirk government of 1972 (the last genuinely left-wing government in New Zealand) to find a better bureaucracy
breeder.

"Nothing's changed. This time Labour's promising:

11 Ministries
8 Boards
4 Taskforces
18 Schemes
1 Division
6 Funds
6 Panels
2 Authorities
5 Councils
1 Foundation
1 Service
7 Committees
3 Commissions
1 Review Team
3 Units
3 Offices
2 Organisations
3 Working Parties
1 Directorate
1 Secretary
4 Quangos
1 Court
2 Forums
1 Register
1 Trust
26 New Inquiries
126 Reviews
58 Investigations
6 Explanations
1 Summit
6 Reassessments (Whatever they are)
1 Discussion
22 Health Boards
22 Primary health advisory committees
22 Hospital management committees, and
6 Health directorates.

"That's just 392 attempts to scratch every itch and to appease every one of the interest groups they favour. Few of their plans have been thought through. New Zealanders would pick up the bill, and more often than not, deal with yet more bureaucracy.

"Helen Clark bemoans high public service salaries. Yet most of her new, rejiggled or rebranded funds, offices or commissions will require Chief Executives, boards, conferences, new furniture and all the rest.

"What would the Minister for the Community/Voluntary Sector do? Do we really need a Tertiary Ombudsman and a Tertiary Ombudsman's office? What exactly is a FutureWork unit? And do we really need the health sector to be thrown on its
head again?"