National's Finance spokesperson Nicola Willis went after consultant spending on Grant Robertson's income insurance scheme in Question Time today. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
National has continued to attack Labour over public sector spending on consultants and contractors, zeroing in on specific projects and departments.
Both parties say they support a reduction in spending on external staff by government agencies and ministries. Labour in response has been justifying what National says is wasteful spending, and calling for the opposition to say where it would make cuts.
National's leader Christopher Luxon began with a question to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, asking when taxpayers could expect to see the "many millions of dollars" in savings from the government's policy to reduce the reliance on consultants and contractors promised in 2018.
Hipkins referred to him to the detail of the spending, "much of which was one-off and justified in the circumstances: around a third of that expenditure for example is related to IT expenditure which as the member will know is a consultant-led industry," he said.
"A significant proportion of it related to Covid-19 related expenses such as the rollout of the vaccines which the member and his party argued we didn't do fast enough."
Luxon asked about consultant spending on specific projects: $51 million related to cycle bridge in Auckland which was never progressed; $53m on light rail which is yet to be built; $21m on Te Pukenga reforms of the polytech sector.
Christopher Luxon in the debating chamber. (file photo) Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
He asked how that tallied with an increase of 14,000 public servants while in office. Hipkins listed a series of roles this could include: Social workers dealing with vulnerable children or jobseekers, corrections workers rehabilitating prisoners, speech and language therapists working in children's education.
National's Finance spokesperson Nicola Willis soon picked up the baton, referring to an Official Information Act response from ACC which quoted a $10.3m consultancy spend on the New Zealand Income Insurance scheme championed by Finance Minister Grant Robertson.
"Did the minister receive the memo the prime minister allegedly issued urging constraint in public expenditure on consultants and contractors," she asked.
"How can that possibly represent good value for money when one of the first things the new prime minister did was bin it?"
She also quizzed him on $8.2m spent by Treasury on consultants, which was forecast to increase to $12m this year.
Robertson chose attack as his best defence.
"The work on the New Zealand Income Insurance scheme - in the words of the prime minister - is important to make sure that we fill a gap in our social security system. I get it that the member doesn't care about people that get made redundant and doesn't care about people who lose their jobs through health conditions and disability ... we have chosen to deprioritise it."
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
He said he was proud of his record.
"This includes 10,000 new public housing places, 4000 more nurses, 2900 more teachers while investing in schools and hospitals and protecting the lives and livelihoods of New Zealanders in response to a once-in-a-century event like Covid-19."
Then he shunted more criticism back to the previous National government.
"It's very easy for a government not to spend money - that's when it doesn't do anything. That's when it doesn't address long-term issues like our water infrastructure; that's when it doesn't do the work to improve schools and hospitals; that's when it doesn't do the work to look after our transport networks.
"By all means if the member wants to say that the National Party would never spend any money on consultants and contractors when they're in office, do that, but it would be a continuation of a do-nothing National government."
National's Health spokesperson Shane Reti also had a go, highlighting a $21m spend on consultants by Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) in its first six months and $2.2m spent by Te Aka Whai Ora (Māori Health Authority) in its first budget on PR consultants. He asked, given that spending, for a single health indicator which had improved as a result.
National's health spokesperson Shane Reti Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Health Minister Ayesha Verrall said the purpose of the reforms were to ensure locally available services, eliminate post-code lottery on health and pursue equity in health through Te Aka Whai Ora (Māori Health Authority), and these would lead to results over time.
"Te Aka Whai Ora has to make sure that the public understands what its job is to do, and indeed with the misinformation that it is subject to I've been pleased to be out with Te Aka Whai Ora in the community, drawing attention to the good work they're doing," she said.
Reti also asked how many contractors and consultants Te Whatu Ora had hired since it began operations on 1 July. Verrall said 343 for national operations, with 26 of those for communications, engagement and public relations.
"Te Whatu Ora does not have data on new district-level contracting or consulting and does not yet have a single payroll system or central register of consulting arrangements," she said.
"I am advised Te Whatu Ora has established a contractor and consultant workforce review to improve data on this workforce and is focused on decreasing spending on contractors and consultants."