About this episode

Oliver Hartwich discusses the issues within New Zealand's public service and the need for reform.

In this episode of Taxpayer Talk, Peter Williams sits down with Oliver Hartwich, Executive Director of the New Zealand Initiative, to discuss why he believes the country’s public service is "fundamentally broken" and incompatible with implementing good policy. Oliver explains how the 1988 reforms inadvertently created a state where department heads are more beholden to the Public Service Commissioner than their own ministers, and how the bureaucracy can subvert political will. Drawing o...

People in this episode

Host: Peter Williams

Guest: Oliver Hartwich

Topics covered

• public service
• democratic control
• bureaucracy
• political will
• government reform

Keywords

• public service
• democracy
• bureaucracy
• government reform
• Oliver Hartwich

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: New Zealand Initiative

Places: New Zealand

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