“They haven’t done that yet. They still employ 14,000 more public servants than John Key’s government did. They’ve only cut one agency: the Productivity Commission. Nicola Willis spent more in her last budget than Grant Robertson ever did and will spend even more next year. She can’t blame inflation. Her increase is far more than inflation.”
Parliament in Wellington, where familiar end-of-year budget warnings are once again playing out. Photo / Mark Mitchell
One year on, all of that is still true, right down to the number of public servants. Do you need better proof that Willis’ cost cutting has been a charade if even the bloated public service is still untrimmed.
Hence the criticism from the Taxpayers’ Union. It’s hard to defend them this week after they bottled the debate they had hyped up to ridiculous levels, but they are right to demand better of Willis.
There is plenty she can cut that wouldn’t cause the human misery she warns of.
She could – and should – cut the free year of university. The policy is a flop that hasn’t increased enrolments. It costs up to around $250 million a year. The rest of us managed to pay for three years’ study and survive.
Commuters tag on to public transport, as the cost of the national ticketing system comes under criticism.
She should cut the National Ticketing Solution that aims to allow passengers to tag onto public transport around the country. It is due to cost $1.4b but Wellington Regional Council is doing it itself for a fraction at $5.5m. That system is now a gravy train. One consultant has been charging $535 an hour for three years.
She should withdraw childcare subsidies from households earning over $200,000 a year. People on that kind of coin earn too much to be beneficiaries.
Willis may feel aggrieved at the criticism given how much she and other ministers have managed to save and to reform. But the country’s economic problem is so big and the structural deficit so persistent that, unfortunately, all that work is still not enough.
Suggestions for cuts include the free year of university and the costly National Ticketing Solution. Photo / Hayden Woodward
All the talk of lifting the pension age sounds like that may be the hail mary Willis is banking on. If she gets voter permission at the election to lift the age of eligibility she would save billions in one go.
I wouldn’t bank on that. Enough voters hate the idea for it to be 50-50 on whether it’s doable.
My suspicion is Willis is smart enough to know she needs to do more but also smart enough to know it’ll cost National politically. And, ultimately, almost every politician is the same. They want to fix the country, but they want to be re-elected even more.
Deja vu.
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