Buzz from the Beehive
The Government continued the flow of good news to the country’s primary producers during a busy 24 hours for the Beehive press team.
It was the forestry sector’s turn to savour announcements intended to enable it to flourish.
Forestry Minister Todd McClay advised the industry that annual service charges in the forestry Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will be cancelled for 2023/24.
He also announced the start of the Government’s plan “to restore certainty and confidence in the forestry and wood processing sector”.
The Government’s vision to grow the forestry sector includes:
- Spurring economic growth through jobs and exports;
- Delivering low emission solutions and products;
- Supporting land use resilience, adaptation, biodiversity & social benefits; and
- Providing carbon removals to support climate goals.
The Government will be introducing a package of initiatives during the course of this parliamentary term to support industry growth and to deliver positive outcomes across the forestry and wood processing value chain.
There was more news for farmers and growers, too
The coalition Government is boosting funding for Rural Support Trusts to provide more help to farmers and growers under pressure, Rural Communities Minister Mark Patterson announced today.
And then – after the PM reported on his meeting Chinese Premier Li Qiang at Government House in Wellington – Trade Minister Todd McClay and Food Safety Minister welcomed initiatives to boost agricultural and food trade between New Zealand and China.
McClay and China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao also announced the official launch of Negotiations on Services Trade between the two countries.
Perhaps the least surprising news came from Public Service Minister Nicola Willis.
The headline was curiously bland:
Latest data shows size of public service decreasing
But the news media have been reporting for months on the government’s assault on public service staff numbers and its commitment to crimping the state pay bill.
It looks like health and safety officials should brace for their redundancy notices.
The government has begun a “substantial” consultation on work health and safety in the form of a roadshow across the regions over the coming months.
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden said this is the first step to deliver on the commitment to reforming health and safety law and regulations, set out in the ACT-National Coalition Agreement.
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Latest data shows size of public service decreasing
Spending on contractors and consultants continues to fall and the size of the Public Service workforce has started to decrease after years of growth, according to the Public Service Commission.
With regard to the shrinking public service, a few weeks ago RNZ reported:
Public service cuts: Number of job losses set to rise to more than 2000
That’s but one of oodles of headlines bringing us news of the public service job cuts.
Nobody should be surprised, therefore, when Nicola Willis – bandying the latest data from the Public Service Commission – said spending on contractors and consultants continues to fall and the size of the Public Service workforce has started to decrease after years of growth,
But the data suggest nothing like the blood-letting that has been headlined by news media.
Workforce data for the quarter from 31 December 23 to 31 March 24 shows a decrease of 0.6 per cent (or 416 FTEs) indicating workforce size peaked in December.
Is that all?
Let’s wait.
The full impact of Budget 2024 decisions is yet to be realised which is why the nine months to 31 March 2024 still shows a small net increase of 3.4 per cent in FTE since June 2023 to 65,283 FTEs, Willis said..
“I expect to see the impact of the Budget start to flow through in the coming months and continue into the next financial year with further decreases,” Nicola Willis says.
“Our ongoing savings and efficiency drive will continue to put downward pressure on the size of the workforce, which is likely to see a further reduction in FTEs.”
The data also shows for the year to 31 March, contractor and consultant expenditure is the lowest share of total workforce spend that it has been since Public Service Commission records began in 2018 – down from 13.1 per cent in 2022/23 to 8.5 per cent.
Spending totalled $700.5 million in the nine months to March 2024 – $249.8 million capital expenditure, and $450.7 million operating expenditure which is down 34 per cent on an annualised basis.
Brooke Van Velden – explaining the consultation on health and safety regulations – said the country’s health and safety culture can be summed up by the sea of orange road cones that have taken over the country.
“From Santa parades to property development, you can’t get a lot done without having to set up a barricade of cones.
“While they may improve health and safety in some places, in other situations their prevalence just doesn’t make any sense.”
It’s time to ask if the rules and expectations are proportionate to the actual risks, and when should common sense prevail?
The Government is seeking feedback on people’s experiences with the health and safety system, including views on issues such as:
- Whether health and safety requirements are too strict, or too ambiguous, to comply with.
- Difficulties caused by the overlap between work health and safety legislation and other requirements.
- The actions that businesses undertake, the reasons behind these actions, and their effectiveness.
- Whether consequences for not complying with health and safety obligations are appropriately balanced and reasonable.
- Whether the threshold at which work-related risks need to be managed is under- or over-cautious.
New Zealanders expect and deserve to have their family members return home safe and healthy at the end of each and every workday, an Velden says.
Where we have to follow rules to keep ourselves or others safe, those rules should be clear, sensible and proportionate to the risk.
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Point of Order 
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