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Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the public service has responded \u201cfairly well\u201d to the new government.\xa0

Newstalk ZB\u2019s Mike Hosking asked him this morning whether officials were giving the Government some \u201cpushback\u201d - pointing to changes to disability support funding and a proposal to shutter the Suicide Prevention Office, both of which appeared to blindside government ministers.\xa0

Luxon said ministers had been inadequately briefed but it had been cleared up.\xa0

He said to be fair to the public service, they had been \u201cvery poorly led\u201d for the past six years.\xa0

\u201dThen they go off and do stuff, and often they do the wrong things because they get busy and they do lots of things but the things don\u2019t add up.\xa0

\u201dThat was the reason for bringing in the nine public service targets - because they were things that mattered to him, and to Kiwis - such as healthcare and education.\xa0

\u201dThe bit that I can control is I\u2019ve got to make sure that my ministers are being crystal clear about their priorities with those agencies.\u201d\xa0

Luxon said job layoffs, where many people would be getting voluntary redundancy, were a \u201cperfectly reasonable approach\u201d for CEOs to find the savings the Government is asking for.\xa0

Luxon yesterday announced nine new public service targets that the Coalition Government has set.\xa0

Surgery wait times, student achievement, less crime and big reductions in welfare and emergency housing numbers are all part of Luxon\u2019s new public service targets to be delivered by 2030.\xa0

The Prime Minister released them yesterday during his post-Cabinet press conference, saying they will require the public sector to think differently and do deep dives into the root causes of key issues.\xa0

\u201cThese targets are not going to be easy to achieve,\u201d Luxon said yesterday.\xa0

\u201cBut we\u2019re not here to do what is easy - we\u2019re here to do what is needed to reduce crime, shorten healthcare wait times and improve educational achievement, no matter how difficult.\u201d\xa0

The nine targets are:\xa0

-Shorter stays in emergency departments: 95 per cent of patients to be admitted, discharged, or transferred from an emergency department within six hours. This was almost at target level in early 2015, when 93 per cent patients were seen within six hours.\xa0

-Shorter wait times for (elective) treatment: 95 per cent of people wait less than four months for elective treatment. This was at target target level in 2015 and 2016.\xa0

-Reduced child and youth offending: 15 per cent reduction in the total number of children and young people with serious and persistent offending behaviour. This would see the number fall from its current level of about 1100 to about 900 children and young people.\xa0

-Reduced violent crime: 20,000 fewer people who are victims of an assault, robbery, or sexual assault. This will be measured in the New Zealand Crime and Victims\u2019 Survey, and would be an 11 per cent drop from 2023 levels.\xa0

-Fewer people on the Jobseeker Support Benefit: 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support Benefit. This would see the number fall by more than a quarter, from about 190,000 in December last year.\xa0

-Increased student attendance: 80 per cent of students are present for more than 90 per cent of the term. This coincides with the Government releasing its plan to reduce truancy, expected later this week.\xa0

-More students at expected curriculum levels: 80 per cent of Year 8 students at or above the expected curriculum level for their age in reading, writing and maths by December 2030. Only one cohort is at the target levels, which currently are: maths (82 per cent in Year 4 and 42 per cent in Year 8), writing (63 per cent and 35 per cent) and reading (63 per cent and 56 per cent).\xa0

-Fewer people in emergency housing: 75 per cent reduction of households in emergency housing. This would reduce the number of households using emergency housing to early 2018 levels. The number had ballooned in December 2023 to 3100 households and 3186 children in emergency housing; 60 per cent had been there for over 12 weeks.\xa0

-Reduced net greenhouse gas emissions: On track to meet New Zealand\u2019s 2050 net zero climate change targets, with total net emissions of no more than 290 megatonnes from 2022 to 2025 and 305 megatonnes from 2026 to 2030.\xa0

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon speaks to media at the weekly post-Cabinet press conference at Parliament in Wellington. April 8, 2024. Photo / Mark Mitchell\xa0

Luxon said he had scrapped former PM Jacinda Ardern\u2019s Implementation Unit in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and would instead set up a delivery unit, which would keep a tight eye on the nine goals. That would include assessing whether various programmes were actually working, and pulling the pin on them if they were not.\xa0

He referenced comments about his CEO approach to the Prime Minister\u2019s job: \u201cI make no apologies for that, because it hasn\u2019t worked for us having the career politicians for the last six years.\u201d\xa0

Asked where those who would no longer be in emergency housing would go, Luxon said yesterday there would be an increase in state and social housing, while increasing the supply of housing in general.\xa0

The targets come as the Government looks to find 6.5 to 7.5 per cent savings across government agencies and departments, a move that critics say will have downstream impacts on frontline services despite what Luxon has said about those being protected.\xa0

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Luxon also announced yesterday that he will travel to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines next week, along with a senior business delegation, Minister of Climate Change and Revenue Simon Watts, and Paulo Garcia, New Zealand\u2019s first Filipino Member of Parliament.\xa0

This trip was undoubtedly in mind when Luxon released his quarterly action plan last week, which included an item to \u201craise the energy\u201d with respect to international engagements including in South East Asia.\xa0

His visit to Thailand will be the first dedicated visit by a New Zealand Prime Minister since 2013, while the visit to the Philippines will be the first in 14 years.\xa0

\u201cSouth East Asia is a region that is more crucial than ever to our prosperity and our security. I look forward to meeting my counterparts and seeing firsthand what more we can do to deepen our relationships,\u201d Luxon said.\xa0

Luxon said 10 per cent of New Zealand exports went to SE Asia, valued at $9.1b, and the region\u2019s economy was increasing faster than just about anywhere in the world.\xa0

This week MPs return to Parliament after a one week recess to begin an unusual one week sitting block. It is the first sitting block since the Government announced its first quarterly plan last week, meaning we should see some legislation introduced to deliver on those plans.\xa0

Cabinet meetings are expected to be contentious this month, as ministers finalise the Budget due for delivery in May. Luxon is meant is likely to face questions on what is in the Budget and the extent to which public sector cuts are needed to pay for his tax plan.\xa0

Yeterday, the Ministry for the Environment became the latest department to announce cost-saving measures.\xa0

Staff were told redundancies are \u201clikely\u201d as\xa0agencies rush to fund savings, which the Government hopes to turn into a saving of $1.5 billion a year.\xa0\xa0

Agencies are tasked with finding savings between 6.5 and 7.5 per cent to trim off their budgets, which, at numerous ministries, is resulting in proposals putting\xa0jobs on the line. The Environment Ministry needs to slash 7.5 per cent from certain lines of funding, with\xa0final sign-off to be made by the Government in relation to the upcoming Budget next month.\xa0

A voluntary redundancy scheme has opened at the Ministry, with no set target for uptake.\xa0

Luxon is also likely to give his view on\xa0immigration changes announced over the weekend.\xa0Immigration Minister Erica Stanford made immediate changes to the\xa0Accredited Employer Worker Visa, to respond to what the Government called unsustainable levels of inward migration.\xa0\xa0

In 2023, a near-record\xa0173,000 non-New Zealand citizens migrated\xa0to the country.\xa0

The changes to the work visa scheme include introducing an English-language requirement for migrants applying for low-skilled jobs.\xa0

Stanford said the changes focus on using the local labour market first, while still attracting high-skilled migrants where there are skill shortages.\xa0

\u201cGetting our immigration settings right is critical to this Government\u2019s plan to rebuild the economy,\u201d she said on Sunday in a statement.\xa0

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