Christopher Luxon: Prime Minister on the job cuts and the Government's new targets

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the public service has responded “fairly well” to the new government. 

Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking asked him this morning whether officials were giving the Government some “pushback” - pointing to changes to disability support funding and a proposal to shutter the Suicide Prevention Office, both of which appeared to blindside government ministers. 

Luxon said ministers had been inadequately briefed but it had been cleared up. 

He said to be fair to the public service, they had been “very poorly led” for the past six years. 

”Then they go off and do stuff, and often they do the wrong things because they get busy and they do lots of things but the things don’t add up. 

”That was the reason for bringing in the nine public service targets - because they were things that mattered to him, and to Kiwis - such as healthcare and education. 

”The bit that I can control is I’ve got to make sure that my ministers are being crystal clear about their priorities with those agencies.” 

Luxon said job layoffs, where many people would be getting voluntary redundancy, were a “perfectly reasonable approach” for CEOs to find the savings the Government is asking for. 

Luxon yesterday announced nine new public service targets that the Coalition Government has set. 

Surgery wait times, student achievement, less crime and big reductions in welfare and emergency housing numbers are all part of Luxon’s new public service targets to be delivered by 2030. 

The Prime Minister released them yesterday during his post-Cabinet press conference, saying they will require the public sector to think differently and do deep dives into the root causes of key issues. 

“These targets are not going to be easy to achieve,” Luxon said yesterday. 

“But we’re not here to do what is easy - we’re here to do what is needed to reduce crime, shorten healthcare wait times and improve educational achievement, no matter how difficult.” 

The nine targets are: 

-Shorter stays in emergency departments: 95 per cent of patients to be admitted, discharged, or transferred from an emergency department within six hours. This was almost at target level in early 2015, when 93 per cent patients were seen within six hours. 

-Shorter wait times for (elective) treatment: 95 per cent of people wait less than four months for elective treatment. This was at target target level in 2015 and 2016. 

-Reduced child and youth offending: 15 per cent reduction in the total number of children and young people with serious and persistent offending behaviour. This would see the number fall from its current level of about 1100 to about 900 children and young people. 

-Reduced violent crime: 20,000 fewer people who are victims of an assault, robbery, or sexual assault. This will be measured in the New Zealand Crime and Victims’ Survey, and would be an 11 per cent drop from 2023 levels. 

-Fewer people on the Jobseeker Support Benefit: 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support Benefit. This would see the number fall by more than a quarter, from about 190,000 in December last year. 

-Increased student attendance: 80 per cent of students are present for more than 90 per cent of the term. This coincides with the Government releasing its plan to reduce truancy, expected later this week. 

-More students at expected curriculum levels: 80 per cent of Year 8 students at or above the expected curriculum level for their age in reading, writing and maths by December 2030. Only one cohort is at the target levels, which currently are: maths (82 per cent in Year 4 and 42 per cent in Yea