Cabinet to agree ministry mergers

The Cabinet will discuss plans today to consolidate the state sector, as the public service braces for job losses.

As revealed by The Dominion Post on Saturday, the Government is poised to implement mergers in three areas of the state sector – Internal Affairs, Research, Science and Technology, and the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry.

The mergers are understood to include rolling the National Library and Archives New Zealand into the Internal Affairs Department, merging the Food Safety Authority with MAF, and amalgamating the Foundation for Science, Research and Technology with the ministry of the same name. It is also understood the Women's Affairs Ministry is being considered for amalgamation into either the Social Development Ministry or the Labour Department, but no decisions have yet been made.

Prime Minister John Key confirmed yesterday that proposals were on the table, but said no final decisions had been made. "We campaigned on moving resources to the front line, and the proposed changes fit that criteria," he said through a spokeswoman.

However, it is understood the proposals will be signed off by the Cabinet today and an announcement has been scheduled for Wednesday.

The Public Service Association said yesterday job losses were "inevitable" from the mergers, but it was too early to say how many.

National secretary Brenda Pilott said union officials had received no notice of the announcement and were in the dark over the Government's plans. "We read about it when we read The Dominion Post on Saturday, and that is disappointing. We don't know what the problem is that they're trying to fix."

While reorganisation could sometimes be effective, it was usually expensive, complex and disruptive, and did not always lead to an improvement in service, she said. "If the Government has a plan to redraw the map of public sector, it should put the plan on the table and let everyone know what it is. The Government must come clean and spell out what its agenda really is."

She would put questions to the State Services Commission this morning.

Labour's state services spokesman, Grant Robertson, said Mr Key needed to explain why he had broken a major election promise, after previously pledging not to radically reorganise the public sector.

"Just like he broke his promise on hiking GST, John Key has broken his promise on the public service. National's changes will cause massive upheaval ... which goes against what the prime minister promised on the campaign trail."

He also had concerns that the statutory independence of Archives, which had the power to require other departments to deposit valuable items with it, could be threatened if it was brought within Internal Affairs.

Mr Key's spokeswoman said the prime minister had not seen any proposal that could be described as "radical reform" of the state sector.

- © Fairfax NZ News