25 October 2017
Bloated executive gets new govt off to bad start
Today’s announcement that there will be 31 ministers, ministers outside Cabinet and under-secretaries in the new
executive shows the incoming government intends to use taxpayer money to solve political problems, National Party Leader
Bill English says.
“There is no justification for such a bloated executive. National and its partners have run effective governments for
nine years with no more than 28 ministers and under-secretaries.
“Even the big-spending Helen Clark government never had more than a 28 member executive,” Mr English says.
“This is simply a make-work scheme for Labour, NZ First and Green politicians.
“If the new government takes the same approach with other areas of government spending, it will not be long before
Deputy Prime Minister-elect Winston Peters’ gloomy prophecy of an economic decline becomes true,” Mr English says.
ends