Overview
- Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced a public service revamp that will cut jobs and merge some departments to lower running costs, with more detail to come in a speech in Auckland.
- Willis set a workforce target of about 1% of the working-age population by 2029, down from roughly 1.2% now.
- She said headcount should fall below 60,000, compared with about 63,600 public servants reported by the Public Service Commission at the end of 2025.
- The package includes amalgamating agencies after Willis pointed to around 42 ministries and departments, as well as upgrading outdated systems and using artificial intelligence to improve service delivery.
- Expected savings are set to help fund next week’s budget after the government limited new-initiative spending to NZ$2.1 billion.