Newstalk ZB
Union-commissioned polling reveals more than two-thirds of New Zealanders think the quality of the public service is either no different or has worsened under the coalition, despite the Herald’s recent Poll of Polls analysis revealing this Government is most likely to win the next election. The Talbot Mills polling, which showed a quarter of respondents took a favourable view of the public service under the coalition, was conducted before Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced her latest round of public servant cuts. The polling of 1316 adults between April 29 and May 10 was commissioned by the Public Service Association, which has been an outspoken critic of the Government’s public service and employment law reforms. Talbot Mills also produces internal polling for the Labour Party. Some 25% of respondents said the public service had improved under the National, NZ First and Act coalition Government, including 5% who said it was “much better”. Meanwhile, 38% said it was worse, including 16% who believed it was much worse, and 29% said there had been no improvement under the coalition. The results come despite analysis from the NZ Herald-Motu Research Poll of Polls showing the coalition would return to office at this year’s election. According to the model, polling around early May had the probability of the coalition winning a second term at 88.3%. Most Opposition voters believed the public service had worsened, while only 9% of National voters felt the same way. Just over half of National voters said the sector had improved. The difference in opinions was less stark for NZ First and Act voters. Some 37% of NZ First voters and 20% of Act voters said the public service had worsened, while 22% and 37% respectively said it had improved. Addressing what National saw as backroom bloat in the public service was a key campaign pitch for the party in the 2023 election. Since then, the Government has made major changes to education, such as scrapping the country’s national secondary school qualification; to welfare, by tightening access to emergency housing and benefits; and in health, by cutting the Māori Health Authority. Willis holds the public service and finance portfolios. She has called for major job cuts in public service over the past two years, saying each department needs to tighten its belt in a poor, post-Covid economy and amid growing public servant numbers. The Talbot Mills polling was conducted before the latest round of job cuts affecting nearly 9000 workers was announced as part of a wider public sector overhaul from which the Government expects to save $2.4 billion. Increasing artificial intelligence (AI) use would also improve productivity and deliver better value for money, Willis said. PSA’s national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said there was “no evidence to support the Government’s claims that AI can replace public servants”. “Over the next three years, if these cuts are rolled out, New Zealanders will see the services they rely on eroded further, which is why we are running a strong campaign to oppose the re-election of the coalition Government.” Employment law overhaul The Government is making major reforms to the country’s employment law, including repealing the Holidays Act and replacing it with the new Employment Leave Act. This, the Government says, is to simplify a complex system that many employers have struggled to interpret. Annual leave and sick leave would be based on the hours worked, rather than the current lump sum of four weeks’ annual leave and 10 days’ sick leave. Part-time workers are currently entitled to the same number of sick days as fulltime workers. Under the new approach, leave would be accrued at a rate equating to four weeks of annual leave if completing 40-hour weeks (so those who work fewer than 40 hours would receive less leave). The Talbot Mills polling asked people: as you may be aware, the Government are making changes to holidays and leave legislation. The Government sa...
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