A number of opinion polls published over recent weeks confirm support for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s National-led governing Coalition is holding. That’s in spite of the tough economic times, public service resistance, and biased media reporting.
The Roy Morgan poll showed the Coalition edging ahead with 55 percent support – National up 1.5 to 37.5 percent, ACT up 0.5 to 10, and New Zealand First steady on 7.5 – with the opposition on 41 percent: Labour down 3.5 to 23, the Greens up 1 to 14, and the Maori Party up 0.5 to 4.
Their analysis shows men of all ages support the coalition, while older women split support equally between the Coalition and the opposition. Younger women strongly support opposition parties, especially the Greens and the Maori Party.
While the overall mood of the country remains gloomy, with cost-of-living pressures still top of mind, there is a feeling that things are starting to improve.
This was confirmed by the drop in annual inflation from 3.3 percent in June to 2.2 percent in September – a rate now within the Reserve Bank’s target 1-3 percent band for the first time since March 2021.
While the Reserve Bank began lowering interest rates in August with a 0.25 basis point reduction, last week’s 0.5-point cut, which reduced the Official Cash Rate to 4.75 percent, the lowest in more than a year and a half, is clearly not enough. With mortgagee sales on the rise, 40 percent more company liquidations than last year, unemployment increasing and record numbers of Kiwis leaving the country for a better life overseas, there’s growing speculation that deeper cuts will be needed to revive the economy.
At times like this it’s important to remind ourselves why we experienced such a dramatic rise in inflation and why such drastic action was required to bring it under control. And we need look no further than former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Under her watch, Labour embarked on an unprecedented spending and borrowing spree that crippled the economy with record debt and record inflation, exacerbated by record immigration.
But questions are also now being asked about the competency of the Reserve Bank board to deal with Labour’s extraordinary mismanagement.
Under their watch, staff numbers, which traditionally hovered between 200 and 250 from 2000 to 2017, ballooned to 601, with salary expenditure rising dramatically as the number of employees earning over $100,000 increased from 132 in 2017, to 436!
Former Reserve Bank senior advisor, Geof Mortlock, in a submission on banking competition, claimed the Board “lacks directors with the requisite level of knowledge and experience in financial sector regulatory and financial stability issues”.
He called on the government to “abandon the highly questionable approach of seeking gender and ethnic balance as the priority for board appointments. The only balance needed on any board is the required balance of skills, knowledge, experience, and judgement. Gender, ethnicity, and culture should always be subordinate to these fundamental matters.”
University of Auckland’s Professor of Economics Robert MacCulloch is also highly critical of the Bank: “The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s $100 billion money printing program – one of the world’s largest – was a knee-jerk reaction…
“Then in another panicked knee-jerk reaction, the Reserve Bank Governor announced he was ‘engineering a recession’ with punishingly higher interest rates to get the inflation he created back down again…
“Turns out our incompetent Central Bank never did ‘engineer a recession’ to kill inflation. It engineered three – and killed three birds – jobs, the economy, and cost-of-living – with one stone, the OCR, instead.”
New Zealand is now one of the world’s worst performing economies, and while the new Government has introduced a range of measures to turn the situation around, they have not gone far enough nor quickly enough.
This can be seen in the grim figures in the Government’s “Financial Statement” for the year ended June 2024. Treasury revealed that while spending exceeded $180 billion, revenue was much less at $167 billion. As a result, net core Crown debt rose from $155.3 billion or 39.3 percent of GDP last year to $175.5 billion or 42.5 percent of GDP.
In comparison, in 2019 before Labour embarked on their reckless borrowing and spending, debt stood at $60 billion or 20 percent of GDP.
This deterioration in the Government’s books, in spite of the tax take being stronger than expected, shows that while the Coalition is talking tough, they need to do more. And since their strategy of growing the country out of its financial problems is not working as quickly as they may have hoped, more spending cuts will be needed.
The public sector should be a primary target.
When National was last in government in 2017, there were around 47,000 full-time equivalent public servants. By the end of 2023, Labour had added 19,000 new employees, expanding the bureaucracy by 40 percent to almost 66,000.
This is partly why it’s almost impossible to get anything done in New Zealand these days. An army of clipboard officials pushing debilitating levels of compliance in such things as health, safety, the environment, culture, are on the loose, crushing the entrepreneurial spirit of risk takers trying to make things happen.
Returning the public sector headcount to 2017 levels would not only save taxpayers around $1.5 billion a year in payroll costs, but a slimmed down bureaucracy would help to revive business confidence.
While the Coalition’s public service cuts have resulted in loud protests from opposition parties and the unions – exacerbated by hysterical reporting by the mainstream media – the actual number of job losses between December and June was only 2000.
It turns out that most of the 7,000 public sector jobs that critics claimed had been lost were vacancies.
While 22 public service departments and agencies have lowered their staff numbers, 16 have increased them, and a new Ministry – for Regulation – has been added. The largest drop in staff numbers was at Statistics NZ, which lost 23.8 percent of its employees when the Census ended.
Given the appalling anti-government bias in mainstream media reporting – especially from state-owned media companies – the Coalition is attempting to communicate more directly with the public over their actions. Using the Beehive website, their initial 100-day plan with its 49 goals can be seen HERE, their second quarter Q2 action plan with 36 goals is HERE, and their Q3 action plan with 40 goals is HERE.
Their Q4 plan with 43 action points – see HERE – was released last week by Prime Minister Luxon, who explained their strong focus on clearing away the barriers to growth in order to rebuild the economy was continuing. The Fast-track Approvals Bill, which is expected to reduce the approval process for major projects that will deliver significant regional or national benefits from an average of 8 years to one year, is a key part of their strategy.
The six-person Independent Advisory Group, that was set up to assess whether the 384 submitted projects were suitable for inclusion in the Bill, recommended 342 for further consideration.
Of those, Cabinet chose to include 149 in the Bill – 28 in the Auckland region, 22 in Canterbury, 19 in the Waikato, 15 in Otago, 12 in the Bay of Plenty, 11 in Wellington, 11 in Northland, 6 in the Manawatu-Whanganui, 6 in the Hawkes Bay, 4 on the West Coast, 4 in Taranaki, 4 in Southland, 3 in Tasman/Nelson, 1 in Gisborne, 1 in Marlborough, and 2 across multiple regions.
Of those, 58 involve housing, 29 transport, 11 mining, 8 quarrying, 7 farming and aquaculture, and 22 are involved in renewable electricity.
The Coalition says those 22 energy projects will help electrify the economy, boost energy security and assist in achieving New Zealand’s climate change goals. If consented, they are expected to contribute an additional 3 gigawatts of generation capacity to the national grid – one and a half times more than Auckland’s average peak demand.
As a result of the Coalition’s adoption of Labour’s radical decarbonisation agenda, the demand for power is projected to rise more than 50 percent by 2050, driven largely by electrification in the transportation and industrial process heating sectors.
But this week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, leading power systems engineer Brian Leyland, is highly critical of such goals:
“The pursuit of ‘Net Zero’ partly driven by a mistaken belief that if New Zealand reduced its emissions our climate will be better, has driven the ban on gas exploration and the desire to shut down our coal fired station, even though it is doing a vital job in keeping the lights on. It has also given us expensive and unreliable wind and solar power.”
Sharing his analysis of our present electricity woes, Bryan explains that the power supply problems we experienced this winter with unprecedented price hikes and calls to restrict usage were the result of three underlying factors – the weather, the flawed electricity market and the drive for ‘net zero’.
“Sixty-five percent of our electricity is provided by hydropower, and the remainder by geothermal, gas, coal, wind and some solar. In a dry year, hydro’s ability to deliver falls away, and we lose about 10% of our generation. In the past, we always tried to have the reservoirs and the Huntly coal stockpile full by the end of summer to guard against this possibility. When we switched to an electricity market, this objective fell by the wayside.
“This year, we failed to refill the reservoirs and, until a few weeks ago, they had been declining fast to a record low level. Recent rain, lots of wind plus some expensive gas from Methanex has eliminated the risk of blackouts this year.
“We used to get 20% of our electricity from gas-fired power stations, but because of declining gas supplies from existing wells, and the previous government banning further exploration, we are now desperately short of gas. The Coalition is going to remove the ban but we won’t see the results for several years.”
Bryan makes the point that the increasing reliance on intermittent renewable energy is only sensible if sufficient backup generation, that can be fired up quickly when needed, is available: “In late summer Huntly did not have enough coal in its stockpile because not enough retailers were prepared to pay in advance for a larger stockpile. So coal fired generation was constrained by the market failing to provide an adequate supply of fuel.”
The Government’s newly released Statement of Government Policy to the Electricity Authority is a step in the direction of ensuring the industry operates more efficiently in providing reliable energy at the lowest possible cost. It includes a requirement for adequate backup generation to be available during dry years, when the wind doesn’t blow, and the sun doesn’t shine. Whether such a direction will be sufficient remains to be seen.
Without a doubt, New Zealand is going through a difficult time as the Government attempts to repair the damage caused by six years of reckless financial mismanagement. Voters resoundingly rejected the agenda of the socialist left along with the extreme environmental policies of the Greens and the extreme racist policies of the Maori Party. The Coalition was elected to put things right. To do that it needs to be tougher than it has been to date.
Red tape and bureaucracy are still out of control in this country. The state sector is still bloated and in need of firm direction to make it productive and less obstructive. Entrepreneurial Kiwis need to be encouraged, not penalised, so they can help to turn the country around and take us forward towards a better future.
And diversity hire policies that are a legacy of the failed Labour government – like those in place at the Reserve Bank – must be eliminated.
People working in the state sector must be the best people for the job, hired on merit, not because they fulfil the misguided social justice objectives of failed politicians who have now moved on.
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THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
*Should ‘diversity’ be removed as a criteria from State sector hiring policies?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| Government employees should be the brightest and not come from a diversity | John |
| Must be removed. Skill and experience are the necessary attributes. | Barry |
| Absolutely! | Sue |
| Competence all the way. However, Fletcher Building continues to have major problems – despite a competent Board ( on paper). | mary |
| We need the best people for the job however I do believe, in some instances, a fair representation of the population is needed. | Kate |
| We are one people | Ian |
| Needs to be addressed urgently. While they keep allowing Maori to post their language over english signage they consider they are entitled. Wake up NZ the Maori or rather part Maori are feeling up themselves. Who wouldn’t considering billions of $$$$ they have been given!! Free of taxes. What did the Maori give to those who they fought., killed , slaves , and ate them , and promoting them to front every opportunity doing a haka , bare bums ,eye popping, fat bodies, are only a reflection of a vicious past. Move on Maori we are hundreds of years from your past, New Zealand has moved on. We are one country, one vote per person. | Dianne |
| Talent and skills should always be at the forefront over everything else. | dave |
| People with right credentials should get the advertised jobs. As the last government chose not to New Zealand I has huge debt | Chris |
| Can’t happen fast enough! | Brian |
| Eliminate DEI immediately. All positions must be filled by the best person for the job. | Flip |
| We need to hire the best people for the job, in the state sector, as most private sector companies need to if they are to be efficient. | Rose |
| Diversity is just another woke agenda item. We need skills, expertise and capability to be the hiring criteria. | Mark |
| Competency should replace DEI. | Bill |
| We must hire the BEST PERSON for the job ALWAYS! | Glyn |
| Merit only regardless of Ethnicity or Gemder. | Brian |
| of course!!!! MEI not DIE | Donna |
| best person for the job should be the only criteria | Stanley |
| should be the best person for the job | John |
| Of course it should. Where did all this madness come from in the first place. I guess it is is little wonder when you hear about kids at school being taught there are not just two genders anymore but seventy two. | Paul |
| Sick of this leftie rubbish | Steve |
| So obvious. | Kevin |
| remove all race based and diversity criteria. The best skilled/qualified person for the job. | Sam |
| It beggars belief that “the best qualified people for the job” is not the ONLY criteria for hiring personnel. | Rodger |
| Meritocracy is crucial to all good governance. | Carrol |
| All told, a devious plot to gain power where it should not be. Diversity does not work only, merit coupled with the wise and the dedicated. | Norman |
| We risk the Kumera Republic moniker if we continue to pander to the the wokest common denomimator | Jacki |
| New Zealand seems to be coming the land of incompetency. There is not a day that goes by that something is not going right or achievements are underwhelming or programmes are costing us way far more than what they should have. Is it possible that diversity is contributing to our woes? We need proven competent people to be our leaders in Government, Industry, education, in social development and so on. I don’t think that diversity for the sake of diversity is doing us any good. Competency must always trump diversity. the best qualified person must get the job. Usually a check on past achievements in an individual’s track record will be a good guide. | Garry. |
| education is the route to diversity. educate, compete equals meritocracy equals progress | john |
| Hiring has to be made based on a applicants true level of skill and work experience. Nothing else.!!!!!!! | Michael |
| more companies worldwide are actively dumping the DEI madness every day. NZ needs to do the same | Alwyn |
| Not just diversity, DEI as a whole. I don’t trust any government. National opened the door for what JA did in her 5 years at the helm by signing the UN’s Agenda 21 pact in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio. They are all in it together, if you believe in a politicians word, you may as well believe in Santa and the tooth fairy. | larry |
| We need the Best People for the Job – people with the best “skills , knowledge , experience and judgement”, in every business, as a former senior advisor has said, especially as Directors of the Reserve Bank. | Mary |
| Use Singapore as a good example….all hiring is done on merit. They would never entertain this current ‘woke’ crap | Tony |
| Removal of all race and gender criteria is vitally important if the best possible people that are available are to be utilised. This goes without saying in every aspect of business and the econonomy with in New Zealand. | Greg |
| Diversity sounds all very cosy and inclusive, however in reality the NZ leftist version is racism pure and simple | Peter |
| It should have never been implimented in the first place. Total woke madness. | Brent |
| We need to hire the best and most capable people to do the jobs. | Glenn |
| Hire those best qualified irrespective of sex, race, colour and creed. | Tony |
| Common sense says that hiring on ability and genuine ability must Trump hiring to create a diverse board or staff. | John |
| Always select on merit | Mike |
| The best people for the job in hand must be hired above all others. | Chris |
| Need to slice out those who seek staff seeking to embed Te Ao Maori and tikanga into anything and everything as well. | Peter |
| It is simple. Government should hire and promote staff on “ability and best for the job”, not on gender or the colour of your skin. Anything other than that is accepting sub optimal performance from Government departments and we cannot afford to do that. | Keith |
| Enough of this woke crap it is ruining our nation. | Chris |
| We must have equality for all | Peter |
| Should never have been there in the first place. How stupid can politicians get? | Don |
| It is incredible that the political system managed to get to a position that females and males are the same! Both are different (Off course). Both in physical and phycological make-up – as nature intended. Both were put on earth for different reasons. The failure of our education system is the driving force that allowed the diversity nonsense to take hold and politics to run with it for power gain. Today, the only way in which to advance and re-generate an efficient economy that can re-develop is the creation of an acceptance of these differences between males and females. Today, this simply means the re-creation of a reality thinking society to the blindfolded diversity that exists and transfer to one that accepts employment Role Modelling as the answer for our very survival as First World nations. Although the class classification of First World belongs to the 20th century, it was re-classified to Industrialised Nation in the 21st century. No doubt such a classification was arrived at to degrade the importance of the state of nations. Also, the de-industrialisation policies of green politics can appear to have less impact on the industrialised nations classification. This new classification can hide the biggest green frauds of this century. and their destructive attack on industrialisation. All being driven or followed by voter ignorance of nature’s natural gases and their harmless existence on and to mankind. A Role Modelling future will still permit typical roles not being filled by each sex as society struggles forward into a new generation that must promote economic survival as a baseline for human democratic existence. The Old one is currently losing hope and faith in economies that lack real jobs and opportunities and are producing economic refugees. Democratic economies were once hope and faith builders! | Frederick |
| We get a double whammy of it here in NZ because we already have to contend with maori being the favored race before all others. Every time they accept that the standard of entry was dumbed down for them or every time they accept they got in because of a quota based on race ,gender etc they undermine themselves and potentially put the rest of us in danger . For a people who love to go on about MANA they appear to be constantly signaling that MANA = Maori Are Not Able. | Glyn J |
| I value democracy | Michael |
| You just have to look at parliament all the clowns getting in unelected with our crazy mmp system. Example Darleen Tana. Bring back first past the post. MMP is passed its use by date. Referendum please. | Kevan |
| Absolutely, hiring only on merit is an essential part of business. | Ann |
| People should be hired only on their ability to do the job and their educational qualifications. We only need the job done by those that are qualified to do it. Diversity is a non-requirement for the job. Any job, | Heather |
| Should be removed as a criteria full stop, in any business. | John |
| Absolutely | Terry |
| The smartest businesssman/investor in the world Warren Buffett picks Board members on the basis skill – not diversity. He is sitting on $300 billion cash. Why would we not emulate his behaviour. | John |
| Meritocracy will always give the best result over time | Laurie |
| Merit,not ethnicity | Sid |
| should be best people for the task at hand | Colin |
| It should never of been introduced in the first place, | Roy |
| Absolutely. It should slways be the best qualified individual who earns the right to fill an important roll. | Margaret |
| iT IS ILLOGICAL, AS PEOPLE SHOULD BE JUDGED ON THEIR QUALIFICATIONS AND CHARACTER..SOMEONE FAMOUS SAID AS MUCH, MARTIN LUTHER KING… | DONNA |
| The diversity scam demic, was just one of these lies used by the NWO/UN/WHO, now impostor BLOOMFIELD, getting to have his say, on what he thinks, KIWIS need, he will quickly change his mind, when the ‘BOOSTER SHOT’ time bombs… start exploding!! | David |
| The best person for the job is the only acceptable way for effective and efficient hiring | Peter K |
| Ability should be the paramount criteria. | Ian |
| who in their own business or household would hire a somebody on a diversity basis as opposed to the person who can best do the job – the state should do the same | bruce |
| all hire should be on basis of quality….and the root cause goes back to a failed education mantra of rewarding mediocrity | gavin |
| Should never have been there in the first place. | Steve |
| As should the requirement for applicants to make up nonsense about how Te Tiriti and/or its recent fake principles will be important to the job. In the vast majority of cases, it isn’t but we are expected to undertake fanciful thinking to fit the ideological narrative. | John |
| We should be employing the best person for the role. Period. | Gavin |
| Best person for the job regardless of gender or ethnicity should always be the criteria. Logically, diversity ideology equals settling for incompetence. | Geoff |
| The best person for the job must always override race | Ken |
| The criteria should be ,the best qualified for the job. | Barbara |
| “Diversity” is such an innocuous word, but when wielded by the likes of Jacinda becomes an incredibly corrosive & destructive weapon. | john |
| People should be hired on their own merit not race base! | Triana |
| Best qualified for the job | Paul |
| Of course it should. But will it? DEI is a well intentioned but severely misguided approach to employment. Merit selection is undoubtedly the best option for both the private and Government sector employment. To think otherwise is nonsensical. | Allan |
| Yes, it’s pathetic as are all these so silly moves | Carolyn |
| There are a number of failed polixies that must be removed from State sector hiring First to be removed is: Diversity Race/Culture (by allocated percentage) Second for removal is; Diversity (gender by allocated percentage) Third to be removed is: English language deficient. (inadequate vocabulary, inadequate comprehension and articulation, strong foreign accent, all unacceptable). Evidence of strong political leaning/bias rendering the member or applicant less than neutral, Unacceptable. State sector employment appointments need to be limited tenure of 36 months only no extensions. Productive emplyees can apply for vacant positions at any level and competency might see applications for higher level appointments. Incompetents might not be re-employed. Author was a state sector employee. (retired) | Richard |
| Absolutely. People should be employed because they have the skills and expertise. | Dianne |
| I don’t care if they are male, female, gay, white, yellow, brown or black. I want them in the job because they are the best at what they do. | Ian |
| Remove ‘diversity” from all hiring – State and Private. The ‘best qualified’ should be the policy – forget the other criteria to reduce the risk of underperformance and disappointment for the Tax Payer | Glenn |
| Appoint the best | Richard |
| And asap | Rochelle |
| Get rid of all this woke business and get on with life! | Barbara |
| Absolutely. It should always be decided on the persons ability to do the job,not on being politically correct etc. I look at some of these people making vital calls and shake my head in disbelief. | Peter |
| It should be reduced to a minor place in state sector hiring, well behind education, skills & experience | Donald |
| of course it should – you and I are paying for it and I want the best person available not someone that allows that minsitry to meet a quota | Alastair |
| Absolutely !!!!! | Alan |
| One should be hired on your merits and skill factors in any employment. Public or private sector. | Wayne |
| There is no place for racial diversity in making employments. The skills offered by the applicant is the key factor. | Hugh J |
| It should be the best person for the job. No ifs or buts. Get the do gooders out of this | Dianne |
| A foolish concept. | Paul |
| It should never have changed from hiring the person with the most merit. | Dennis |
| They could not allow the Race, of an applicant, affect their decisions! | Hugh J |
| fast!!! | tony |
| Best person for the job – experience, qualifications cations, vision, etc ingenuity | John |
| BUT OF COURSE! I am old fashioned and believe old fashioned proven ideals, “The ‘best man for the job’ AND ‘We are all one people’. What a pity that those ideals have gone by the wayside. Freedom of choice and a Master Race will see this country stuffed! God Defend New Zealand. | Bruce |
| just go back to Ms Claeks Foreshore and Seabed act which means we ALL own the hem of our country. No jiggery pokery angmore, ever! | murray |
| Meritocracy…. is what is needed, so as to elect our politicians! Make it compulsory for politicians to have knowledge and experience before they can become a cabinet minister, in government, this would make them have to be accountable, to the people | David |
| DEI =DIE or death of our country. | John |
| merit is the only criteria | murray |
| 3 bumper truck protecting 1 worker on a motorway, economic madness | James |
| Diversity is over rated as a requirement …the best person for the job should be the over riding requirement. | Rhys |
| All NZ citizens should be Kiwis or leave. | David |
| Socialism with its free ride for all who don’t bother trying, has been the downfall of the economy because of the loss of work ethic in the local population. Consequently we rely on hard working immigrants to ensure the PRODUCTIVE work is done. Consequently we have a housing crises. Add to this the privileges constantly dished out to one ethnic group who wrongfully claim to be indigenous, plus the ridiculous compliance costs forced on the productive sector, hey presto, we have a failing economy, that will not recover as long as we cling to the zero-carbon SCAM. | A.G.R. |
| Choose carefully, and appoint strictly on the basis of merit. | Stuart |
| Should always be about the best person for the job, not the colour of one’s skin or race. | Barry |
| Yes, remove it, and in all other sectors as well | Peter |
| Should be the best person for the job and awarded on merit, regardless of race, gender, religion etc. No wonder NZ is in the state we are at the moment | Brian |
| best person for the job should be the criteria | Helen |
| Hirers can be conscious of diversity as a thing provided they always select on merit. I work in an environment with other ‘Kiwis’ from many different ethnic and cultural backgrounds and there hasn’t needed to be a “diversity policy”, just good hiring practice. | Francis |
| if you can prove that you are capable and qualified of doing the job without f*****g it up go for it but just because you sit down to pee, or have a bar code on your face, black or brown skin, strange ideas, but putting your snout in the money trough seems to be the main thing to be a civil servant in this country, parker is a good example, spending $39000 tax payers money in around 3months and no reason to explain what or who she spent it on. the money that has been withdrawn from the maori gibberish school and parkers and others embezzlement from the PUBLIC PURSE should be put towards getting Nelson or Dunedin hospitals built | Richard |
| Remove DEI from all state employment | John |
| Best person for the job. Dump the “freeloaders” | kabe |
| Only the best qualified. | Derek |
| Dump diversity and not just from the public service. Get the DEI wokesters out of our boardrooms and exec suites too – and please can we stop wasting time and money producing compulsory sustainability reports that no one reads. | Wendy |
| Should be removed from all employment contracts | Barry |
| Time to end the mindless BS | Kevin |
| The most capable person for the job should be employed every time. That is such a basic rule. Anything else is discrimination! | Linda |
| CHANGE THE WORD TO ABILITY | Craig |
| The job goes to the best person for that job regardless of ethnicity or gender. | Kevin |
| More of the rubbish imposed by a an ex “woke govt” | John |
| ..but the best people for the job don’t get hired by the public service anyway..because the best people don’t apply, they’re already working in the private sector with a sense of satisfaction they could never get in government because they’re contributing to society. If by chance a talented individual were to apply for a government job they’d be weeded out during the HR process by some horrible Waikato university – liberal arts grad who is guarding the public service from any aspirational type candidates. | Matt |
| Diversity should never have been a criterion for State sector hiring policy. The best applicant for the job should be the standard. | Gavin |
| We need qualified decision making from practical, qualified, experienced people in our control centres not ‘nice to have’ people throwing confused ‘out of box’ left agendas into decision making. | harold |
| ‘Colour’ bears NO relation to ‘Competence’ !! | Michael |
| now | Mark |
| These ‘Diversity’ lunatic policies need to be dumped NOW | Andrew |
| based on ability only | peter |
| Nats partly to blame by sticking with many of the previous govt ideologies incl diversity | Mike |
| this policy stacks committees with people with secret agendas without any competence for their assigned , proper tasks | Russel |
| Absolutely DEI must be removed. Would you like a dei pilot flying your family. Would you like a dei running a new navy boat into a reef, or a dei running the interislander to ground etc etc etc | laurine |
| Skills only! | Kim |
| Hire on Knowledge and ability only | Bruce |
| Unless NZ runs a meritocracy, we will go the way of other countries that have appointed 2nd rate personnel in the name of inclusiveness. Eg. South Africa. | Geoffrey |
| Get rid of this dopey idealistic policy before we have a bunch of inexperienced fwits making the important decisions. | David |
| Should not have ever been allowed | Roger |
| But with safeguards | Geoffrey |
| Diversity should be removed from all walks of life before the country sinks like that DUMB navy ship. Competence, knowledge, and experience over and before WOKE nonsense always. | Russell |
| Absolutely should be removed. We are one people of many ethnicities and opinions . People need to be hired on their skills and knowledge not their skin colour or gender. | Joanne |
| Diversity means lowering the standards Competency should be the criteria | Geoff |
| Absolutely | Ted |
| Yes remove it. | Chris |
| The old adage of the best skilled person for the job with the neccesary skills for that role is paramount rather than adhering to a quota system of gender diversity and ethnic lineage | John |
| The only criteria is the most qualified ability to do the job available irrespective of ethnic, gender and sexual characteristics. Other than that the only diversity that should be sought is diversity of thinking in jobs and teams that require it. | Brenton |
| Competency to do the job has to be the main criteria | Jerry |
| Appropriate skills and qualifications required must be the paramount consideration. None of the “touchy feely” stuff | Philip |
| Yes and JA damehood should be retracted. Just abhorrent!!!! We all pay dearly for her planned actions. | Anita |
| Only Councils and Gov owned businesses can be so politicly correct and so stupid at the same time – of course you hire the most competent for the job. | Maurice |
| Why do we need diversity, to please the ‘woke’ ridiculous! | Catherine |
| Talent trumps DEI everyday. | Fred |
| Our public servants should be picked on their desire to serve kiwis and make our lives better. Not actions that clash with the foundational values of NZ, and what the current Government is trying to is requiring of them. Their race colour or creed should not come into it. They are also supposed to implement the Governments policies, and not have an agender of their own, which conflicts with the current Government they are employed by. | Dene |
| Definitely ! | Patrick |
| Ability and performance should be the only hiring criteria. Putting underperforming diversity hires in charge only ensures the departure of the high performers we really neeneed. | Frank |
| Obviously | Ray |
| Get on with it now. | Tim |
| It should be the best person for the job. Diversity is a distraction which doesn’t allow for the most appropriate person to be employed, and so lowers the quality of the workforce. | Laurence |
| Absolutely – Stupid idea in the first place | Errol |
| Round pegs in round holes!! | Ray |
| Oppose all race based selection; Support gender bias providing appropriate competence for position. | Margaret |
| The unions and civil servants will fight against this and it will never happen or take several more elections | mike |
| Definitely. The many incompetent hired under diversity need to be weeded out and replaced with the person with the most skills for the job. The coalition government is moving far too slowly implementing their colourblind policies and the activists, radicals and Iwi are still in control of government departments. | Brenda |
| To many mini-chiefs’ and no ‘down -to- earth ‘ common sense practical Human beings. Come on, sharpen up and get the show on the road. | Chris |
| Merit based appointments guarantee competency. NZ’s judiciary needs to demonstrate impartiality as well. Clown shows in The Beehive needs to stop as the taxpayer is sick of funding a 3 ringed circus. Indolent politicians who specialize in divisions devalue democracy. | Eileen |
| Best person for the job. | Lionel |
| The main criteria should be the ability and skill to competently perform the job. | Mike |
| Should never have been there in the first place! Jobs on merit only! | Dominic |
| Get into gear Coalition, make it happen , we voted you in for change . | Rob |
| Definitely!!! | Rayner |
| No doubt – diversity for diversity’s sake simply does not work. | Dennis |
| Skills, merit and relevant experience should be the only criteria. | John |
| Select the best… not the unbalanced. | Deidre |
| The answer is simply put. The best person for the job, it should not depend upon diversity, race or other criteria. | chris |
| Merit only | Merv |
| Absolute waste of time and money. | Mike |
| Hiring should only ever be on the basis of best fit for the job. | David |
| Should never have been introduced. The best person for the job should be employed | Neil |
| Too many fools. | Evan |
| The only consideration must be merit. | Trevor |
| It doesn’t take too much thinking about. You hire the best person for the job, not based DEI as the past government would have you do, | Lawrie |
| Remove from everywhere | colin |
| Totally! The only people to be elected to Boards, Councils, Companies and Ruling Bodies, are those who are fully qualified, knowledgeable, experienced, and have some history of the type of Board Management involved should be chosen for election. Anyone else regardless of gender, race or creed should not be considered. Only then will the output and management of those entities function to the acceptable standard expected. | Robyn |
| Ethnicity and gender appointments are filling these jobs with untrained and unqualified people who often don’t appear to even want to be there. They often are not helpful and I’m sure sometimes don’t even know how to help. | Heather |
| Best person for the job no matter what! | Dennis |
| It should always be the case that the person mist qualified for a position be appointed to that position irrespective of race, sexual orientation, gender… | Carol |
| Best people for the job at hand , not diversity should be first and last priority | Peter |
| Of course..!! | Vic |
| The government has no control over the public service because it is run by the public services commission. All this ‘independence’ means NO CONTROL.. To reduce the public service government needs to obviate the legislated purposes which requires a public service. Take the Argentinian option….a chainsaw to government services. | Kenneth |
| We only want the best person for the position. | Faye |
| All state sector positions must be the very best person for the job at all times. | Rowena |
| ASAP | Geoffrey |
| Absolutely! And there needs to be a huge clean out of civil servants, starting with the Reserve Bank Governor. The master servant relationship has now changed and those in the servants role need to take heed of that. | Rod |
| Skills are more important | Raymond |
| Unless the required person has the right credentials and ability, they shouldn’t be let anywhere near the finances of NZ. All this diversity stuff is utter rubbish. Perhaps if they were paid on their performance, and took a pay cut for messing things up they might think twice about throwing their hat in the ring. The salary they receive blinds them to any common sense re their ability. | Merryl |
| Absolutely get rid of it – it has proven to be an absolute failure!! New Zealand has suffered enough with this ideological foolishness. | Margaret |
| Experienced professionalism and fit for purpose recruitment, combined with work efficiency practices would improve NZ’s State Sector performance. | Peter |
| You know the saying, go woke, go broke! It is true that the western world is being progressively being pushed toward restitution. Don’t believe that Luxon is any different to the other lot. The are all controlled by the globalist puppet masters. | Neil |
| Numbers should be slashed. Compare the number of total public servants to a similar size, but much more productive country such as Singapore, it does not make pleasant reading or comparison. | Bryan |
| Definitely require people who are experienced and capable of performing in the best interests of NZ. | Bruce |
| Also remove race and ethnicity | Keith |
| Best applicant for the position is the only way to hire | tony |
| hire on merit only. Best person for the job gets it. | fred |
| A no brianer | Jim |
| Promote the most able people for the best economic outcomes. Forget race, gender and political persuasion. | Mark |
| The madness has ruined us | Howard |
| Hire on ability only. | Ann |
| They can’t be trusted to do what is right. | William |
| people should be hired on their ability to do the job only | Cathy |
| When employing people the ability to do the job on hand is the key not GENDER. The past woke Government should never return to power and this current Coalition should be tougher on the public sector and get rid of the dead wood. Having personally owned and run a company you have to be firm but fair. | ken |
| Diversity although a good idea should not be considered in govt jobs, getting the best person for the job should be topmost. | Clive |
| Once again RACISM IS being encouraged | Brianb |
| That change needs to be made immediately, too. | Graeme |
| No brainer. | Murray |
| Merit and experience and ability only should govern contracts! | Rosalie |
| The most qualified person and experienced regardless of gender | Anthony |
| And private sector. It is simply sexist and racist, should never be a factor anywhere | Dave |
| Definitely.No person can say they are just one race.DNA tests will prove it without any doubt that we all derive from different races. | linda |
| YES!!! | pamela |
| Hiring should based on ability and experience, nothing to do with gender or ethnicity. | Derek |
| Yes | Keith |
| Meritocracy is the only criteria. | John |
| Diversity, as defined today, must be removed from everything. All employment has to be based on Merit. | Robert |
| Hire on merit and ability to do the job in all sectors | Anon |
| It never should have been! | Michael |
| Let’s get back to the old adage of the best person for the job. Ethnicity, gender,, and sexual preference should have not part in determining suitability for a position in the public sector or academia for that matter | John |
| Should be best person for the job | Lynton |
| Diversity in a work place has been shown to have absolutely no benefit to the success of a business. Hiring policies should always be based on “the best person for the job”.. irrespective of ethnicity, gender, religious beliefs, sexual preferences.. | Trevor |
| Yes… because it’s stupid and very inefficient. | Kathryn |
| It seems a whole industry is built to promote these way out ideals that have little to do with the job in hand! | Peter |
| Result… too many incapable Asians Immigrants running Courts- BUT… the appointment of the Solicitor Gen was likely Rainbow affected, she IS top in honesty & integrity – likely a junior wrote the stuff that has rebounded… | Gill |
| It should be the best applicant for the position irrespective of diversity, ethnicity or gender. | June |
| Not only State sector but all need the best available – white/brown, male/female | Doug |
| As soon as possible | Simonne |
| Ability and experience first and foremost | Ian |
| Absolutely! Acquiring the best person for the job in hand regardless of DEI is the highest priority. Especially when using taxpayers money. | Andrew |
| Of course | Owen |
| To remove immediately – a woke criterion invented for political correctness and of no practical relevance. | mary |
| Only the most brain dead employers employ with any consideration to diversity. It is s recipe for disaster and leads to hiring numpties just to keep the diversity stats “right”. Any enterprise that wants to succeed hires the best person for the job, someone who will perform well, regardless of race, religion, disability, etc. | Steve |
| Crikey, I did not know the previous Government was that stupid to make that a requirement. Then again, it was the worst Government in the history of NZ. | Scott |
| 100% this has caused many problems here and overseas, why can’t the government learn | Gareth |
| Ye delete all remaining legacies of the red queen and grant Robinson. as too self serving and dangerous. | mikE |
| Diversity should have absolutely nothing to do with job applications, it should be solely on the merits of the applicants ability to perform the task correctly & impartially. | David |
| DEI is practical hinderance to our growth.Hiring should be on merit and experience | Phil |
| Yes, but not only for the state sector but for ALL sectors of employment. | Alan |
| The word has been weaponized to give right of place to every kind of aberration | Harvey |
| Best qualified for the job, nothing else makes sense. | Rod |
| Common sense. | Evans |
| Of course, everyone should be hired on their own merit. | Kate |
| 100% yes | Peter |
| What has ‘diversity’ got to do with any job. I doubt anyone has missed out on employment because of their ‘diversity’. | sandra |
| Vital | Graham |
| Best people for job | Geoff |
| Ditch DEI or our country will DIE. It’s a part of the wrecking ball plan to collapse the old Westphalian nation state order and usher in the one world dictatorship order. Search ShadowRing (2015) Documentary, 2 hrs 17 m. Pre eminent is the CFR. | Donald |
| Heck yes! I wouldn’t want a more competent man to be passed over for me just because I’m a woman. Nor a so-called deprived race picked because of their ethnicity. No way is that fair to competent and suitable employees | Ann |
| Skills should be the only criteria | Hugh |
| When is this wokism going to stop and common sense prevail!! | Bev |
| It should not have ever existed ther in the first place ! | Alan |
| Totally | Richard |
| Criteria should be suitability for that particular job, not ethnicity, diversity, gender or anything else irrelevant. | Lee |
| Ability and competency and understanding of job requirements, should be the criteria for employment. | Willy |
| We need pepple to be hired based on merit not because they tick a woke appeasement box. | Mike |
| We need to appoint people who have the proven skills to do the job. Not what the colour of the skin is or whether it is male or female.. We have excellent people of both sexes capable of doing the job | Frank |
| All hires should be based on suitability of qualifications , proven appropriately related performance / experience , merit , integrity , appropriate ethical values and necessary drive factors – NOT diversity . | Hugh |
| Hire the best person with the necessary skills to do the job properly | Graham |
| All politicians are failed politicians, as they don’t represent, we the people, they represent the corporate state. Corporatism, the collusion of the corporate state government and NGO’s (corporations) is the definition of fascism, and this system runs the world. The insanity we are going through, which include DEI, is all part of the Zionist/Bolshevik NWO corporate agenda. This accounts for the organized, lockstep rollout of their policies throughout the west. | neil |
| Hire on merit only | George |
| The best person for the job. Always | Brian |
| ABILITY should be the ONLY criterion for appointment. | Ross |
| The most qualified person for the job should be the only criteria | Gary |
| Absolutely. The ills of diversity and multiculturalism are cleared in Europe every day, for those willing to look. At the same time, the foul and bitter fruits of woke policies are now becoming evident in the US, where people are now starting to die due to the incompetence of official government, from local to national levels – all the results of DEI appointments instead of meritocracy. | Johan |
| Of course it should | Peter |
| It is very necessary to remove such obstacles that get in teh way of employing the the right person for the job, rather than having to comply with a criteria that has no bearing on the task in hand | neville |
| It is very nice to have a policy of diversity but if the conditions of the job are not people friendly, diversity means nothing. | Paloma |
| And replaced with the word ‘MERIT”which is what should have been there all along! | Roger |
| Definitely, and do it now. The GOVT are way to slow in addressing this madness. | Noel |
| QUESTION Diversity hire for Pilot or Surgeon ? Meritocracy always, anything else and failure will occur. | wayne |
| Skills not skin colour | Gavin |
| DEI = Racism, incompetence and lunacy. Its Cultural Marxism at its worst. The long march through the institutions is almost complete. Its nothing more than a diabolical mischief perpetrated by evil elements and their useful idiots. | Richard |
| Best qualified person should get job | |
| Skill & ability more important | Chris |
| Quality is surely more important to an outcome than ideology | robin |
| It is astounding that diversity policies are in place in the Armed Forces. It might have happened anyway but we have just lost a major Naval asset under control of a genetically diverse individual. | Tony |
| get the best person for the job | noel |
| of course it should be removed. Best person for the job is common sense. I forgot; that is in short supply. | Gary |
| it must go there has been a lot of failures & wastage because of this crazy wokisium. | Nigel |
| The most competent person for the position should get the job. Not because they were the right colour or gender to “balance” the workforce. | Gary |
| And still too many public servants. I guess further public servant reduction desirable – another 20,000. | Mike |
| DEI doesn’t work in the real world | Boris |
| Absolutely that’s the major reason why the western world is stuffed | Greg |
| should never have been introduced its hard to understand any government entity or private business hiring people on gender or race thinks this is going to improve efficiency.over the past 6 years i have witnessed the results of it on a daily basis, inept people taking up space were more educated people should be.a typical ineffective policy of the looney left. | Warren david |
| Sack all the public service Throw out the racist maori party Throw out the loony greens | Ronnie |
| We need the best PERSON for Governmental positions, and not just someone with a degree who doesn’t know which way is up. | dick |
| whats so hard about just employing the best or right person for the job | john |
| Diversity is only extreme ‘Wokism’ !! | Geoff |
| Should never have been considered in first place | Chris |
| Merit should be the only criterion. | Jenny |
| Been against this all the time. Competent people are what is needed no matter what race or gender they are | Dave |
| Diversity should play no part in hiring policies, state or any other sector. | Des |
| Absolutely. | Simon |
| Certainly!! | Marla |
| Best qualified person for the job. Nothing else nothing more. Jacinda Ardern ruined our country and now gets praised around the world. Its repulsive and outragious. May she never return. | Allan |
| Absolutely!! | Murray |
| Best qualification for the job is the only requirement | Michael |
| Diversity means ideologies come to the fore | David |
| A no brainer. | Paul |
| Ethnicity, race, colour, whatever you may call it, has no place in a democracy, let alone in hiring someone to do a job. | Elizabeth |
| Hiring the best person for the job should take precedence over any other criteria, especially those paid for by the tax payer! | Bruce |
| This is utter rubbish. The best person for the job should be the only factor | Trevor |
| Promotes 2nd rate performance. Go for the best…..full stop. Amen. | Mike |
| Should never have seen the light of day | Beverley |
| All that should be counted is the ability and skill set requirements. | Alison |
| Only employment criteria should be the best person for the job. Nothing else matters. | Chris |
| We want the best people in the job. | Mat |
| No way quickest way to getting a biased view portrayed…. | Carl |
| People should be employed on the grounds of their ability, not RACE or GENDER! We need the best qualified, to make the BEST decisions, which will grow this country! | STUART |
| Hire the BEST people for the job on skills and merit. | Phil |
| “Affirmative Action” has been an abject failure everywhere else it has been tried. What gives NZ luvvies the idea it will work here? Quite simply, it won’t! We need the best qualified person for the job, not the one with the best skin colour or the best sexual orientation. | TOBY |
| SAME RULES FOR EVERYBODY. NO SPECIAL TREATMENT FOR ANYONE. STAND ON YOUR OWN ABILITIES. | Honest Dave |
| No one should be employed because they’re male, female, their ethnicity or by whatever they identify as. Proper skills, education and suitabilty for the role are the correct criteria. | Trevor |
| It is appalling that merit is not the vast majority of the hiring criteria. No wonder the public service have 18000 more employees and yet services are noticeably worse. | Lindsay |
| Absolutely it must. It is a large part of why the country is in such a mess. | Sally |
| The best personfor the ob isheonly valid criterion | Bruce |
| Diversity can be anything: religion, ethnicity, culture, cuisine, fashion, nail polish choice etc. Remove diversity and concentrate on the topic, subject, issue, task at hand. | Sharron |
| Diversity is NOT Equality, and Equality with experience and qualifications is what should drive employment selection this country!!! | David |
| Necessity for the position in the first instance, then merit – not BS – should be the basis for hiring people. | Henry |
| We would not ourselves hire a builder based on diversity criteria. We should also not force the government to hire builders based on their diversity profile. | Kent |
| I encourage the Government to be more Agressive in putting things right. That why we voted for you. | Heather |
| All treated the same,the best person for the job | RAY |
| The decolonising judges should be sacked as well more diversity hires | chris |
| All Kiwis have the same rights and duties, irrespective of their ancestors. | Jo |
| Absolutely, employment should always be the best candidate and diversity should not be given preference or we dumb down the whole of society | Sharon |
| He th best person for the job regardless of race creed or diversity | Rod |
| There’s no need to hire people based on race – will people honestly go to see a maori doctor knowing full well that that person got a place in medical school and hence was let through lightly, so the government of the day could say that it was inclusive – I don’t think so! This is just the most glaringly obvoius example of what could happen. Just hire people on demonstrated levels of competency, for Gods’s ake! | Trevor |
| Skill based criteria | RICHard |
| ability&merit far outweigh artificial critera. | ken |
| There should be only one major component of choosing people for jobs. Competence! | Gail |
| The best candidate for the job, should be appointed. | Murray |
| The ancestry of every New Zealander is diverseWe do not need rules. | Catherine |
| Yes, abso-bloody-lutely | Janine |
| Skills and ability to do the job should be the prime criteria for hiring in any sector, most especially in the state sector. And reference to diversity must be removed. | Colin |
| Diversity has become just another ‘WOKE WORD’ to hide RACIST conitations. DIVERSITY should be dropped, and substituted with MERITOCRACY, which is a far more suitable word, especially when used in Politics. | David |
| Meritocracy trumps all this woke diversity rubbish every time. | Rodger |
| Diversity should absolutely be removed from public sector hiring. Talent should be the prevailing characteristic. | Donald |
| Most of the 19,000 extra staff that Labour hired are probably based on diversity so they could boast about their public service employment statistics. It’s no wonder productivity is so low. Many of those employees will be hopeless at their jobs. This needs to be sorted by the govt ASAP. | Murray |
| The sooner National sorts this out the better! | Pauline |
| The public service should be reduced to 25,000 tops. It is ridiculous that such a small country has so many bureaucrats. | Graeme |
| It is sickening to see Jacinda Ardern being lauded as a hero overseas when she did so much damage to this country. | Simon |