David Seymour's new Ministry of red tape hiring a $168k-a-year spin doctor

Thursday, 15 August 2024

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says cuts at the Ministry of Education and Oranga Tamariki will help make sure front-line services are prioritised and wasteful spending is eliminated.

The Government is hiring spin doctors for its new agencies on six-figure salaries, despite having ordered purge on public service jobs.

David Seymour’s new Ministry for Regulation is recruiting for a “principal adviser, engagement and communications”, paid up to $168,000 a year. That’s despite a campaign promise from ACT to make 15,000 public servants redundant.

They will join a team of five communications staff ‒ three of whom are contractors.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ Social Investment Agency is also searching for a consultant to work as a communications manager, drawing a salary of up to almost $237,000.

David Seymour’s new Ministry is supposed to cut red tape and enable “a culture shift across government to move the focus away from Wellington.”

The incoming coalition Government pledged reduce consultant and contractor expenditure, with National criticising outsourcing in the public service as “wasteful spending”.

There have been mass job cuts across the public sector, as ministries, agencies and departments act on a Government directive to shave spending. As of the end of July, nearly 6000 jobs have been cut, or are slated for the axe.

The Ministry for Regulation was established in March, set up to run a ruler over new and existing laws and cut red tape.

The successful applicant will report to a “Head of Engagement”, manages no staff and can earn a salary of between $127,000 and $168,000.

The job ad says the Wellington-based role is “crucial for shaping and managing the strategic communication and stakeholder engagement activities within the ministry” and will “enhance the ministry’s reputation”.

Seymour did not answer questions posed by The Post, including whether he considered communications a frontline service.

“The Ministry for Regulation is a small ministry with a big job. It is set up with the explicit purpose of reducing the weight of government regulation on New Zealanders. That means it does need to have communications and engagement staff to support its role in breaking away from the Wellington bubble,” he said in a statement.

It would enable “a culture shift across government to move the focus away from Wellington”, he said.

A spokesperson for Seymour confirmed the new role would take the ministry’s “comms and engagement” staff to five. One is on secondment, and three are on fixed-term agreements.

The Social Investment Agency replaced a Social Wellbeing Agency on July 1 and has a $50m budget.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced the new agency in May saying it would “lead the development of social investment across Government, helping us understand who we need to invest in, what works for those people and how we measure progress.”

The fixed-term contract on offer lasts until the end of November, and has a salary range of $167,790 - $236,880. The hire will manage a small team and develop “an external communications approach with a clear narrative to support the implementation of social investment”.

Willis did not respond to questions from The Post on Wednesday.

The Taxpayers’ Union urged the Government to “slash waste”.

The advocacy group was responding to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s decision to reduce the Official Cash Rate to 5.25%, which would “bring a sigh of relief to homeowners”.

“If [Governor] Adrian Orr isn’t going to regret his decision, slashing government waste needs to be the name of the game. With public sector wage costs still growing at twice the rate of those in the private sector, Nicola Willis isn’t short of targets,” policy and public affairs manager James Ross said.