Auckland (The NZ Today)
The Green Party has promised to restore public service funding cut under National, committing $3.17 billion over four years to reverse existing reductions and block further cuts planned for coming years.
Co-leader Marama Davidson said the party would unwind the $2.4 billion in savings National has taken from the public service and halt additional reductions scheduled from 2027/28 onwards.
The Greens say their plan would reverse the 2 percent baseline cuts introduced in Budget 2026, cancel a further 5 percent reduction expected next year, and stop another 5 percent cut planned for the following year.
Davidson said the party wanted to rebuild capacity across government agencies rather than continue reducing staff and services.
She argued the impact of public sector cuts had gone beyond Wellington, with job losses also affecting local retail, hospitality and other parts of the economy.
The Greens are also pushing back against National’s plan to make greater use of artificial intelligence across government, claiming thousands more public service roles could be lost if further savings go ahead.
Davidson said the party believed a strong public service was necessary to deal with pressures across health, housing, the economy and the environment.
The Greens are positioning themselves as the only major party in the campaign explicitly promising no further public service cuts.
The $3.17b commitment would cover the period from 2027/28 to 2030/31 and would form part of the party’s wider election spending programme.
Source: Green Party policy announcement and RNZ.
