This week on Taxpayer Talk, Taxpayers' Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, sits down with the Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative, Dr Oliver Hartwich, to discuss how the incoming Government should reform the public service. Despite a mandate for change and a desire to unwind many of the policies of the previous Government, the new National-led government may face challenges with navigating the complex and bloated bureaucracy of the public service – something that may prove to be a roadblock to much-needed reform.

In the podcast, Dr Hartwich discusses a range of potential ways to make the public service function better under the new Government ranging from bringing forward the retirement of the Public Service Commissioner, to bringing the Commissioner under direct ministerial oversight as part of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, to establishing ministers' offices in the relevant government departments rather than in the Beehive.

Before joining the New Zealand Initiative, Dr Hartwich was a Research Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney, the Chief Economist at Policy Exchange in London, and an advisor in the UK House of Lords. Dr Hartwich holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Business administration and a PhD in Law from Bochum University in Germany.

The New Zealand Initiative is a think tank with a mission to help create a competitive, open and dynamic economy and a free, prosperous, fair, and cohesive society. You can find more about them and their work on their website here.

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