Government to amend Public Service Act to reinforce merit-based appointments
Public Service Minister Judith Collins has reaffirmed her commitment to scrapping diversity requirements in the public sector and shifting its focus to merit-based appointments.
In an interview with NewstalkZB, Collins was asked about her commitment to getting rid of diversity hiring in the public sector.
"I think absolutely committed," she said in the interview. "We're also hearing from public servants that they like to think that they are employed on merit, not based on little boxes that have been ticked."
She made the remarks after announcing in April that she plans to overhaul the Public Service Act 2020, including reinforcing the principle of merit-based appointments.
The amendment bill is expected to be introduced in July.
"There's nothing wrong with valuing diversity of thought and experience, while you're at it too. It's all part of who's the best person for the job," Collins told NewstalkZB.
"Also, it's not fair on public servants who feel sometimes and people accuse them of having been appointed because of their ethnicity or some diversity thing when they're just trying to do the right job."
The previous New Zealand government introduced a diversity, equity, and inclusion plan for the public service sector. Some of the progress it made includes:
According to Collins, the previous government was "overly focused" on their diversity targets.
"If you give them the tools to say you've got to look at all these things, they'll look at them all right, they'll look at them all day long," she said.
"So just say, get the best person for the job and get their job done."
The minister stressed that focusing on merit will deliver better appointments for the public sector.
"If you tell public servants their role is to get merit-based appointments and not to take too much notice of people's personal lives or anything else, I mean, you're going to get better appointments," she said.
"But also people know that they're being appointed for the right reasons, not about anything else about their personal lives."
Meanwhile, the Taxpayers' Union in New Zealand welcomed Collins' commitment to cutting diversity targets in the public sector.
"This is a massive step forward for fairness and efficiency in our public sector. Judith Collins' decision to strip DEI mandates from legislation is a direct win for taxpayers and a return to common sense," said James Ross, union spokesman, in a statement.
"Every New Zealander deserves to know that public servants are hired based on who is best for the job, not on ticking diversity boxes."
