Public Sector Volume 35:4

Rāngai Tūmatanui

Journal of the Institute of Public Administration New Zealand

PUBLISHER The Institute of Public Administration New Zealand PO Box 5032, Wellington, New Zealand Phone: +64 4 463 6940, Fax: +64 4 463 6939 Email: admin@ipanz.org.nz Website: www.ipanz.org.nz ISSN 0110-5191 (Print) ISSN 1176-9831 (Online) The whole of the literary matter of Public Sector is copyright. Please contact the editor if you are interested in reproducing any Public Sector content.

EDITOR Shelly Farr Biswell: shelly@biswell.net WRITERS Janine McGruddy John R Martin Rose Northcott Max Rashbrooke PROOFREADER Nikki Crutchley JOURNAL ADVISORY GROUP Len Cook Dr Chris Eichbaum, Chair Julian Light Ross Tanner ADVERTISING Phone: +64 4 463 6940 Fax: +64 4 463 6939 Email: admin@ipanz.org.nz DESIGN J&K Design PRINTING Lithoprint SCOPE IPANZ is committed to promoting informed debate on issues already significant in the way New Zealanders govern themselves, or which are emerging as issues calling for decisions on what sorts of laws and management New Zealanders are prepared to accept.

VolUMe 35:4

DeCeMBeR 2012

CONTENTS 2

Newsbrief

4 5

executive watch Guest editorial: The Canterbury Recovery – kaupapa Maranga waitaha

By David Rutherford, Chief human Rights Commissioner, Te Amokapua

6–8

COVER STORY Planning greater Christchurch

9–11

For the people: leith Comer

12–13

A cultural response in the aftermath of tragedy

14–15 16–17

The Performance improvement Framework: Getting it right

18–19 20–23

Smokefree prisons: A bold new era HISTORY LESSONS An important part of the public service equation: Dr RM (Robin) williams A century of public service

24

Point of view: After the ground stops shaking – Anatomy of a disaster

By David McBride

25

last word: Centenary celebrations By iPANZ President len Cook

12–13

A cultural response in the aftermath of tragedy

INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS Public Sector considers contributions for each issue. Please contact the journal’s editor for more information.

SUBSCRIPTIONS IPANZ welcomes both corporate and individual membership and journal subscriptions. Please email admin@ipanz.org.nz, phone +64 4 463 6940 or visit www.ipanz.org.nz to register online.

DISCLAIMER Opinions expressed in Public Sector are those of various authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editor, the journal advisory group or IPANZ. Every effort is made to provide accurate and factual content. The publishers and editorial staff, however, cannot accept responsibility for any inadvertent errors or omissions that may occur.

16–17

Smokefree prisons

Front cover image: Christchurch Square illustrative concept, courtesy of Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority.

Public Sector is printed on an economically and environmentally responsible paper sourced from internationally certified Well Managed Forests and manufactured with EMAS accreditation (ISO 14001).

December 2012 Public Sector 1

NewS BRieF

Speaking truth to power – 10th World Conference of the International Ombudsman Institute

By Janine McGruddy, Masters by Thesis student, Otago University in November, New Zealand hosted the 10th world Conference of the international ombudsman institute in wellington. About 280 ombudsmen and representatives from national human rights institutions from around the world descended on wellington for the conference, with the public section of the meeting running 14 to 16 November.

The theme for the conference was “Speaking Truth to Power – the ombudsman in the 21st Century.” Chief ombudsman and President of the ioi Dame Beverley wakem opened the conference.

As wakem noted, “what we are seeing is an increasing diversity of roles being given to ombudsmen, and a need to rethink how to best apply the limited resources we have. This international forum is a chance for ombudsmen from all corners of the world to debate and discuss these issues.” wakem’s address was followed by former Prime Minister Rt hon helen Clark’s presentation on the challenges and opportunities for strengthening the integrity of institutions and the work of ombudsmen. The essence of this was the need to encourage innovative and flexible systems which reinforce citizens’ participation.

Challenging times one of the main issues that came up throughout the conference was working in the current economic climate.

The recent austerity drives facing government agencies and the quest for new and more economical ways of doing things has had its casualties.

Unfortunately, one of these could be the rights of the public to information, as transparency and accountability can be seen by fiscally straitened governments as unnecessary luxuries. At the same time, the current economic situation has led to an increase of Freedom

2 Public Sector December 2012

of Information and Official Information requests in many of the countries represented at the conference.

Professor Alasdair Roberts from the Uk said, “in a crisis we need to collectively decide what the path forward should be.” For Roberts, the global financial crisis was a crisis of transparency. homeowners did not understand the basic aspects of mortgages, financial instruments were “grotesquely complicated,” and executives were unaware of the extent of their obligations. At the same time, investors relied “blindly” on rating agencies and agencies “lacked the ability to assess financial institutes.”

Seeking truth leo Donnelly, Deputy ombudsman New Zealand, noted in his presentation that establishing the truth should not be a “game of hide and seek.” As public servants are aware, there is always a tension between serving the government and serving the public, however, the public interest test is usually the truest test of how to handle requests for information.

During her presentation, lyn Provost, Controller and Auditor-General New Zealand, said that leaders must juggle natural justice, privacy, and organisational reputation with transparency that supports integrity. if people can understand why, they may find it easier to accept – thus building legitimacy for governance.

The point of talking truth to power was perhaps best summed up by Advocate Thulisile Madonsela, Public Protector of South Africa, when she said that agencies need to realise that “when we hold a mirror to you we are being your friend.”

New Zealand is currently in its 50th year of having an ombudsman (the term “ombudsman” is Swedish for “grievance person”) and is the fourth country, after Sweden, Finland and Denmark, to have established an office of the ombudsman. www.theioi.org

Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct – Office of the AuditorGeneral’s third monitoring report

IN 2007, the Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct criticised the historical conduct, including sexual conduct, of some police officers and their associates. The commission made recommendations for change within the New Zealand Police.

One of the outcomes of this inquiry was that the Government asked the AuditorGeneral to monitor, for 10 years, the progress the NZ Police are making with the commission’s recommendations. In October, the Office of the Auditor-General published its third monitoring report.

Deputy Auditor-General Phillippa Smith notes in her overview of the monitoring report that trust and confidence in the NZ Police are fundamental to the NZ Police being able to do their job effectively.

“Any behaviour by police officers that shows a lack of integrity is a risk to this trust and confidence. In the extreme, it could also present a risk to the safety of the public and the NZ Police.”

She adds that, “Although overall levels of trust and confidence in the NZ Police are relatively high and increasing, the mixed progress that the NZ Police have made in responding to the commission’s recommendations after five years presents some risk to that trust and confidence.”

She notes that despite the dedicated efforts of many individuals within the NZ Police, significant leadership challenges still exist and most of the commission’s recommendations are still to be completed.

In her overview, Smith says that there are “signs of improvement” with NZ Police giving greater priority and resourcing to progressing the commission’s recommendations about adult sexual assault during 2012, but she adds that there is still room to improve.

Based on the mixed progress, Smith says that the Office of the Auditor-General “will do some targeted review work between now and our final report in 2017. The targeted review work will have a particular focus on the NZ Police’s progress with the commission’s recommendations about adult sexual assault investigation. It may also involve a scenario-based survey of police conduct.” www.oag.govt.nz/2012/police-conduct

Ministry of Social Development releases independent report into IT security breach IN early November, MSD released an independent report by Deloitte into the security breach of Work and Income kiosks.

The objectives of the independent review were to address the questions raised about the security of the Work and Income self-service kiosks, “focusing on what happened, why it happened, the lessons learned, and the actions” MSD needs to take to address security issues.

The review is in two phases. The released report presents the findings from the first phase, investigating the circumstances and causes of, and the response to, the security breach.

The second phase will assess the appropriateness and effectiveness of MSD’s information systems security and consider aspects such as >

Pike RiVeR CoAl MiNe TRAGeDy – RoyAl CoMMiSSioN’S RePoRT © Awcnz62 | Dreamstime.com

“By complete, we mean not only that the responses to each recommendation have been fully implemented, but also that they are an integral and ongoing part of the Police’s routine business practice and culture – and that they are routinely delivering the desired effect.”

Smith says since the office’s second monitoring report in 2010, there has been: • mixed progress with activities relating to complaints against the NZ Police • mixed but relatively poor progress to improve services for adult sexual assault complainants • elements of good progress for organisational change • some progress to improve police behaviour.

THE Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy reported to the Governor-General on 30 october 2012. on 19 November 2010, 29 miners lost their lives after an explosion at the Pike River Coal Mine. As the commissioners note in the preface to their report, “The 29 men who died follow a long line of other people who have perished in New Zealand mines over the previous 130 years. This, sadly, is the 12th commission of inquiry into coal mining disasters in New Zealand. This suggests that as a country we fail to learn from the past.”

The commission was established in December 2010 to report on what happened and what should be done to prevent future tragedies. Based on written and oral evidence, the commission looked to uncover “systemic problems lying behind the tragedy so that recommendations can be made for the future.”

The two-volume report includes an overview of the incident, the commission’s 16 primary recommendations to avoid future tragedies, and detailed and technical information that the commission considered in its deliberations.

Amongst the commission’s findings, is that “the [Pike River Mine] board of directors did not ensure that health and safety was being properly managed and the executive managers did not properly assess the health and safety risks that the workers were facing.”

The commission also found, “The

Department of labour did not have the focus, capacity or strategies to ensure that Pike was meeting its legal responsibilities under health and safety laws.

The department assumed that Pike was complying with the law, even though there was ample evidence to the contrary. The department should have prohibited Pike from operating the mine until its health and safety systems were adequate.” in response to the commission’s report, Ministry of Business, innovation and employment Chief executive David Smol says that on behalf of MBie he accepts the commission’s findings and acknowledges “that we should have done better. i apologise to the families, friends and loved ones of the 29 men who died for the failure to be more effective as a regulator, and the insufficient focus on health and safety in the Department of labour.”

Smol also announced he will commission an independent investigation to look at the implications of the report and whether there is any need to take further steps in relation to employment matters.

As the commission noted in its report, “the changes recommended by the commission rest firmly on the principle that health and safety in New Zealand can be improved only by the combined efforts of government, employers and workers.” http://pikeriver.royalcommission.govt. nz and www.mbie.govt.nz December 2012 Public Sector 3

culture, governance, policies and capability.

Through the review, three primary causes were identified that led to security weaknesses in the system. These include security not being adequately considered at the kiosk design and implementation stage; exposures identified through independent security testing not being appropriately addressed; and risk management processes that did not include taking security exposures to management or ensuring appropriate mitigation measures were in place.

When releasing the report, MSD Chief Executive Brendan Boyle said that the “review finds security issues were identified and raised

on a number of occasions, including by Dimension Data, but staff woefully under-estimated the risk of a malicious attack. In doing so they appear to have failed to take the necessary steps to ensure the Ministry safeguarded people’s personal information.”

He said that of particular concern in the report’s findings is that identified risks and concerns appear not to have been escalated to staff members in leadership positions.

“The report makes it clear there were risk and governance processes in place, however these were not appropriately used.

“Questions must now be asked about the

adequacy of these processes and whether this was an extraordinary series of events, or whether it raises broader issues about the appropriateness and effectiveness of the Ministry’s wider information systems security.”

The second phase of the review was expected to be completed in late November. The Privacy Commissioner has formally opened its ownmotion investigation into the security breach, but will wait until phase two of the Deloitte review is completed before determining if additional reviews or actions are required. www.msd.govt.nz and www.privacy.org.nz

exeCUTiVe wATCh Jo Cribb Jo Cribb has been appointed the new Chief executive of the Ministry of women’s Affairs. Prior to this role, she served as Deputy Children’s Commissioner, Office of the Children’s Commission.

Cribb has more than 10 years’ experience as a senior manager and policy leader in the Children’s Commission, the Families Commission, the Ministry of Social Development and the Department of internal Affairs.

She was awarded a PhD in Public Policy from Victoria University of wellington and holds post graduate qualifications from the University of Canterbury and the University of Cambridge, United kingdom.

Simon McArley Simon McArley has been appointed the Acting Chief executive and Director of the Serious Fraud Office. Prior to this role, McArley was a senior lawyer with the SFo’s Financial Markets and Corporate Fraud team.

Before working with the SFo, he performed similar roles at the Securities Commission and the NZx. he was also a partner in a leading legal practice for over 10 years and has

4 Public Sector December 2012

been a member of the New Zealand Markets Disciplinary Tribunal.

McArley graduated with an llB (hons) from Victoria University of wellington.

Michelle Hippolite Michelle hippolite (waikato, Rongowhakaata and Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki) has been appointed as the Chief executive of Te Puni Kōkiri.

During the last 16 years, hippolite has been in senior roles in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. She has also been a contractor in the wider state sector.

She currently holds a number of board memberships and directorships, including as Chair of Te Kura Māori o Porirua.

Helene Quilter helene Quilter has been appointed Chief executive and Secretary of Defence.

She has 34 years’ experience in the public service, includ-

ing the last five years as a Deputy Commissioner at the State Services Commission and six years at the Ministry of Social Development.

Quilter has a Masters in Strategic Studies (Distinction) from Victoria University of wellington. She is a graduate of the Senior executive Programme, london Business School and the Darden University leadership Programme.

Local government Clare Hadley

Clare hadley has been appointed Chief executive of Nelson City Council. Prior to this role she was the Chief executive at Rangitikei District Council in Marton. hadley previously served on the Palmerston North City Council for five years, most recently as General Manager Community and Commercial Services. She also worked as economic Development Manager at hutt City Council and in managerial roles for both Porirua City Council and Dunedin City Council.

She is a member of the Society of local Government Managers executive Board and is their immediate past president.

GUeST eDiToRiAl

The Canterbury Recovery – Kaupapa Maranga Waitaha

By David Rutherford, Chief Human Rights Commissioner, Te Amokapua

W

hen the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform exploded off louisiana on 20 April 2010, triggering the worst oil spill in American history, the decision-makers called on Admiral Thad Allen, the retiring commander of the Coast Guard for the role of national incident commander of the Unified Command for the oil spill.

Allen had previously led much of the government response to hurricane katrina. impressed by his leadership, the media dubbed Allen the “hero of the Gulf.” when faced with human-made or natural disasters on the scale of Deepwater, hurricane katrina and the Canterbury earthquakes, it is imperative that clear principles guide the raft of public agencies through the complexity and chaos that results.

The admiral’s approach to the katrina recovery was refreshing. while he may not have characterised what he did as a “human rights approach” few exponents of that approach could have put it better when his first act upon being appointed was to give public servants one order. he told them to treat affected people as if they were members of their own family. he said this would ensure that their actions would always err on the right side. he reassured them that if they struck problems with this approach, then he would sort it.

Allen was letting the public servants know he had their back and this empowered them to do the right thing for the affected people, to be “can do” rather than risk averse. he knew that the government would need to serve citizens in circumstances they had never faced before. he

sought to break through traditional silos and barriers to enable the broad collaboration necessary for effective disaster recovery.

The admiral’s words resonate for the Canterbury recovery as much as they did for katrina. There can be no doubt the quakes fulfil the United Nations definition of a natural disaster. Amazingly, Admiral Allen was in Christchurch when the February earthquake hit.

The voices of the vulnerable and affected people, including public servants who have experienced loss, stress and heartbreak, need to be heard and their dignity and human rights respected. inevitably, human rights issues have arisen as a result of the Christchurch earthquake and the Government has a responsibility to respect and fulfil the human rights of Cantabrians. in the context of a natural disaster, a human rights-based approach is a people-centred approach that provides the framework and necessary standards for humanitarian assistance and the recovery process. it grounds what needs to happen in universal principles such as human dignity and non-discrimination as well as a set of universally accepted human rights. The basic principles of citizen centricity and outcomes are the same as the Better Public Services Principles.

As New Zealand’s national human rights institution, the human Rights Commission has a statutory role to advocate for the vulnerable and to remind stakeholders of the international human rights laws that advocate for a “bottom up” and “joined up” approach for Government. The commission has set up webpages outlining the international standards surrounding housing, health and community participation in Canterbury. With the Office of the Ombudsman, the Office of the AuditorGeneral, Saving and Finance ombudsman and Serious Fraud Office, the Human Rights Commission is developing an internationally benchmarked monitoring framework to ensure the recovery is inclusive and non-discriminatory.

The international human rights obligations are important and provide a valuable guide, but this is not an exercise in compliance. it is about doing right by all of the people of Canterbury.

The Government’s Chief Science Adviser Professor Sir Peter Gluckman has developed a set of guiding principles that everyone in the public sector should follow in their work in Canterbury.

1.

Recognise that the situation is distressing and not easy for the affected population.

2.

Provide clarity about how governance arrangements will facilitate local engagement and empowerment.

3.

Provide community monitoring and good information on access to support services.

4.

Provide clarity over reconstruction and rehabilitation plans.

5. it is better for those in decisionmaking roles to be truthful and say “we do not know” rather than obfuscate.

6. it is important to set timelines for when things will clarify and information will be provided, and to meet those timelines.

7.

Provide information on expected post-disaster emotions.

8.

The community must feel they are heavily engaged in the recovery but we must also recognise the conflict that is inherent between the desire for rapid physical recovery and the difficulties planners face. This conflict is inevitable and real, the key is to involve the community openly in resolving it.

9.

Those involved in managing the recovery process must understand that recovery in the end is about people’s lives and be credible in demonstrating that understanding. They must be willing to activate community empowerment and engagement.

10. it is important to give a sense that the recovery is about people and their lives, not just about buildings, although clearly getting a functioning house and city back are core to recovery. The response must be broad-based and ongoing.

December 2012 Public Sector 5

Image: Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority

Planning greater Christchurch

“Greater Christchurch recovers and progresses as a place to be proud of – an attractive and vibrant place to live, work, visit and invest, mō tātou, ā, mō kāuri ā muri ake nei – for us and our children after us.”

– Recovery Strategy Vision, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority Editor Shelly Biswell looks at the planning involved in rebuilding greater Christchurch.

I

t has been nearly two years since a 6.3 magnitude earthquake rocked the Canterbury region. As a result of the Christchurch earthquake of 22 February 2011,185 people died; many more were injured; much of the lifeline infrastructure (such as energy, transport, water, sewage, and telecommunications) was disrupted; and thousands of buildings and homes were damaged or destroyed. The projected economic cost of the earthquake is expected to exceed $20 billion.

While those are the facts, they don’t tell the stories of individuals in the hours, days, weeks and months after the earthquake – lost employment, rearranging surgeries and doctor appointments for previous health conditions, organising schooling and childcare, lost recreational opportunities, missing pets, and the ongoing stress of aftershocks and earthquakes.

CERA Chief Executive Roger Sutton says the need to restore and enhance community resilience and well-being after a significant disaster is well documented.

“It is well established that social capital is a significant factor in the resilience of a community, and its ability to recover after a major disturbance or disaster. Human recovery is as important as repairing infrastructure if communities are to get back on their feet following natural disasters. It is also clear that communities involved in planning of their recovery recover most successfully.”

To that end, CERA has established a Community Resilience Team with the aim of ensuring there is adequate social support available to communities and that these are accessible and coordinated, that community engagement and community leadership is fostered, that there are

6 Public Sector December 2012

adequate community facilities, and that there are forums that bring community researchers and expert practitioners together with those working hard to build communities and neighbourhoods.

Sutton says, “There has been considerable effort put into mobilising social and mental health support for individuals and households, with some evidence of success. Initial indicators of positive progress include the significant uptake of services available at the community end of the service spectrum, which has resulted in a manageable level of demand for high-end mental health services.”

He says CERA would have liked faster progress on aspects of the rebuild to assist with social recovery, but the compounding effects of continuing aftershocks, the size and scale of the damage and the number of impacted households, and the number of parties involved with making manageable solutions has made this difficult.

In the zone The zoning process ended at the end of October with the green zoning of eight residential properties in the Port Hills of

Christchurch. In total 190,000 residential properties in greater Christchurch were zoned with over 180,000 of those properties zoned green and 7860 residential properties zoned red.

As Sutton says, “The landzoning process following the earthquakes has taken longer than we would have liked, but it has been a complex process and it was important to get the decisions right.”

The zoning process has not been without issue. For example, in July High Court Justice Lester Chisholm granted the application for a judicial review of a land rezoning decision made by Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee. Justice Chisholm overturned the minister’s decision to rule out housing development on land near the Christchurch International Airport.

University of Canterbury Senior Lecturer Dr Deirdre Hart says that the focus has been so much on deciding the fate of properties and suburbs – are you in or are you out – that more integrated and holistic planning may be getting lost in zoning decisions.

“There’s a big difference

feeding into an established process.

The commission has reported its findings and recommendations to the Government in three parts.

Part one was delivered to the Government on 29 June 2012 and publicly released in August. The report contains recommendations to inform decision-making about the central city’s recovery.

Part two of the report contains the commission’s findings on the failure of 21 buildings that caused 42 deaths in the 22 February 2011 earthquake. It also recommends practice, policy and legislative changes to help minimise the risks to public safety from earthquakeprone buildings in earthquakes.

The report was delivered to the Government on 10 October. Part three considers the collapse of the CTV building and other aspects of the terms of reference that were not included in the first two parts of the report. The report was delivered to the Government on 29 November. The Government will decide when and how parts two and three of the commission’s report will be publicly released.

Land-use planning Sutton says CERA and other agencies are working hard to identify and make available suitable land to meet the demand for housing and other projects.

“The Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Gerry Brownlee has directed Environment Canterbury Regional Council to prepare a Land Use Recovery Plan for greater Christchurch. ECan will work with Christchurch City Council, Selwyn District Council,

current land-use policies and plans, some are concerned the plan may make it possible to sidestep some planning processes and the courts.

Hart says, “It’s important we don’t disregard 20 years of RMA decision-making and case law when devising an overarching land-use plan for the area.”

“it’s an enormously hard job, but science-based information should be feeding into planning processes in a more structured and transparent way.”

Waimakariri District Council, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, New Zealand Transport Agency and CERA to prepare the draft.”

The plan will identify the location, type, and mix of residential and business activities within specific geographic areas necessary for earthquake recovery. The focus will be on ensuring there is provision for a diverse range of housing types, infrastructure and transport that are integrated and connected to centres of activity and that consideration of natural hazards underpins land-use decisionmaking. The plan may also make changes necessary for earthquake recovery to residential and business land-use policy and planning provisions and related funding instruments.

With the ability to change

In welcoming the plan, ECan Commissioner Peter Skelton said there is an urgent need for greater certainty regarding land use and infrastructure in greater Christchurch.

He added, “Significant investment decisions that are currently being made, including by the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team and by the three territorial authorities, will be assisted by the plan.”

Discussions with key stakeholders will occur this year and a consultation document will be available for public input and a series of workshops in early 2013.

A draft recovery plan will be presented to the minister by the middle of next year, when he will call for written comments before considering the draft plan. >

image: Canterbury earthquake Recovery Authority

between ‘can we rebuild’ and ‘should we rebuild.’ While it’s imperative that this process move as quickly as possible, there’s a real concern that we are making shortterm decisions that may have longterm consequences – looking at lifelines, environmental issues like water, and the cumulative effect of new development. This doesn’t mean more process, it means ensuring robust process.

“It’s an enormously hard job, but science-based information should be feeding into planning processes in a more structured and transparent way. That includes a rigorous reassessment of baseline environmental and multi-hazard data and how things have changed.

It means including updated information ranging from tsunami risks, to sea-level rise, to coastal erosion, to estuary flood levels.”

She says there are some positive signs, however. The process around the Canterbury Natural Environment Recovery Programme is one such example. “The NERP represents a consultation where there is buy-in from experts and the community. The result should be a great planning document that guides future decision-making.”

The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission is another example of expert information

December 2012 Public Sector 7

At the table Roger Sutton says that CERA has actively looked to engage with communities throughout the course of the Recovery Strategy development and for many of its programmes.

“For example, the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan was inspired by the thousands of residents’ ideas that came out of the Christchurch City Council’s award-winning ‘Share an Idea’ campaign.”

He says, beyond that there is the day-to-day communication that is required.

“Support services have been connected to the region’s most vulnerable families and those isolated or needing further assistance. Outreach services have been placed in the most affected areas and we are continuing to work with community leaders to support them with their communities’ recovery.”

A Wellbeing Survey is also now available for people to go online and share their post-earthquake experiences and perceptions. Prior to this, a randomly selected sample of 2500 residents from the electoral rolls in greater Christchurch were surveyed.

“The purpose of conducting these surveys is to identify trends and the areas of greatest need in order to target resources appropriately,” he says.

The survey data and analysis should be available early next year.

Sutton says overall, “It has been inspiring to see how the earthquakes have brought out such a strong sense of community in greater Christchurch, and a determination to rebuild a city that is better than ever.”

leSSoNS leARNeD – The ReSPoNSe

I

n early october the government released an independent review of the Civil Defence emergency Management Response to the Christchurch earthquake commissioned by the Ministry of Civil Defence & emergency Management. The review considered the response from when the earthquake occurred until 30 April 2011, which is when the response phase officially ended and the recovery was taken over by CeRA. in their report, the reviewers acknowledge the leadership shown by National Controller John hamilton, Minister Gerry Brownlee, and Mayor Bob Parker throughout the response and note the contributions of emergency services, council staff, community organisations, “emergent” voluntary organisations like the Farmy Army and the Student Army, as well as the countless individuals who assisted in rescues and provided support to others throughout the response. “overall the response to this extremely challenging situation can justifiably be regarded as having been well managed and effective.”

The reviewers found that the efforts of emergency services were “commendable and on many occasions courageous.”

Additionally, the review found that overall the organisations responsible for lifeline infrastructure serving Christchurch were prepared for such a disaster and responded well after the earthquake. Reviewers also observed that healthcare response was very good, “largely because of the high level of preparedness in the Canterbury District health Board, Pegasus Primary health organisation, and the Ministry of health locally.”

The review, however, is critical of the lack of cooperation and integration of the local civil defence emergency management (CDeM) structures that were “dysfunctionally divided and recovery from the 4 September 2010 earthquake had stalled.” overall the reviewers made six major recommendations: • that territorial local authorities (TlAs) no longer have power to control the response to emergencies, but that they still retain the power to declare them • that a cadre of highly trained emergency managers from organisations across the country be established to lead and control emergency responses

8 Public Sector December 2012

• that new structures be developed to modify the New Zealand Coordinated incident Management System to better link the response to emergencies with the community and community organisations • that the preservation of business and jobs be made a higher priority during response to emergencies, and links between response and businesses be improved • that consideration be given to locating the Ministry of Civil Defence and emergency Management within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to provide a better platform for launching responses • that MCDeM continue to promote a culture of preparedness for major disasters amongst all sectors and be resourced appropriately to do so.

As part of its response to the report, MCDeM outlined what actions it would take and noted that two of the major recommendations would not be adopted. in response to the recommendation that TlAs no longer control an emergency response, CDeM Director John hamilton said that MDCeM will instead “continue to work with the 16 regional CDeM Groups to strengthen, rather than diminish, the role of councils in all aspects of CDeM. The ongoing commitment of councils is crucial to the success of CDeM responses.

Most emergencies are short, localised events that are best dealt with at the local level without needing the CDeM Group to formally lead the response.”

The other major recommendation that will not be adopted is the relocation of MCDeM to the DPMC. The ministry will remain within the Department of internal Affairs and will work to increase other agencies’ awareness of its lead role in a major emergency. hamilton said in releasing the report, “i would like to thank the reviewers for their work. Their report provides a good overview of the response to the earthquake, and how we can strengthen our country’s CDeM arrangements. we are carefully considering each of their recommendations and will report to Cabinet how we will implement them.” www.civildefence.govt.nz

For the people

Photo: Te Puni Kōkiri

Leith Comer

Te Puni Kōkiri Chief Executive Leith Comer steps down this month after nearly 12 years in the job. He talks to Max Rashbrooke about the evidence for Whānau Ora, boosting trade with China, and why the ministry’s role is to “broker and facilitate” – not deliver programmes.

What progress have we seen on Māori issues in your time at TPK? In some areas there has been extremely good progress made; in other areas, progress has been difficult. One of the big achievements has been in Treaty of Waitangi claims and settlements – that has been stellar. The impact goes beyond just settling the claims, but also getting Māori more familiar with government processes.

On the cultural side, there has been some really good progress: Māori Television, the Rugby World Cup 2011, Māori tourism.

Those things are now starting to mature to the point where our distinctive culture is starting to pay off for the country as a whole. The Rugby World Cup, for example – a lot of the images that people took away from New Zealand had a Māori element to them.

Māori economic development too – in a report that is soon to be released, we are seeing some very good economic management of collectively owned assets. More Māori are getting into business, too.

What big problems remain?

The challenge that still remains is that there is a cohort of Māori who live in households where the household income is not high enough, where educational achievement is not high enough, and where some of the health outcomes are not good enough. That’s the real challenge for government.

What needs to be done to help those households?

It’s very hard to shift people and improve their circumstances because there are so many things that impact on that cohort. Even if, for example, there was a silver bullet, and that silver bullet might be well-paid jobs, you still have to have people with the capacity to fill those wellpaid jobs; you have to invest a lot in education, skills and training.

You need people to have a good, strong environment, where they are in good, warm, nurturing households, and in this instance you have to deal with a lot of issues around low Māori ownership of homes. You have to deal with certain issues that don’t allow whānau to engage in a nurturing way – and that includes alcohol and drug issues. It’s all interrelated. It’s a slow process and one where there is not any one answer.

But the important thing to stress is that these problems are not genetic. We are getting more and more Māori with PhDs, more and more Māori into all forms of New Zealand public life. Māori can do it.

What about income gaps within Māoridom?

Māori can be seen across all socio-economic groups in New Zealand. There are some very well-off Māori and a growing number of what I would call middle-class Māori. And that’s a really important group, because once you are in that class, you have more discretionary income and that gives you choices.

You can’t ever say, well, we just have to accept the way it is, the status quo. We have to be continually fighting for the distribution of resources at the same time as growing the economy. That’s where wealth is going to come from.

What about Whānau Ora – how’s that going?

Whānau Ora is built on the philosophy of recognising that the whānau is central. A lot of policies in the past have been built around individual entitlements, whereas the Māori approach should be much more whānaucentred. The whānau should have the resources to make choices as to how they improve individual life choices within the whānau.

Whānau Ora is in its infancy, and while it is transforming the way we do things, transformation takes longer than five minutes. But already we are seeing some very strong and encouraging results. Our qualitative surveys show that whānau are reporting that their engagement is really positive.

In particular, they appreciate the ‘naviga> tion’ work that providers are doing to help December 2012 Public Sector 9

them understand how public services work: training people to interface with government and building capacity to be self-managing, along with working with people through the process of establishing family plans and discussing their pathways and their aspirations.

What are the initial results?

Our surveys show there is a high level of trust in the process – 90 to 100 per cent agree or strongly agree with that. Seventy per cent of families are reporting an improvement in housing conditions. Seventy-one per cent say their income has increased. Fifty-six per cent have seen an improvement in employment. Eightynine per cent report improvements to their parenting skills. Sixty-eight per cent of children are now participating more in early childhood education.

Where they are engaging in a really active way, with the support of the Whānau Ora providers … what they are doing is quite transformative. Around 20 per cent of the whānau we are working with have had their capacity built to the point where they would be described as self-managing. That is quite unique.

what do you think explains those promising signs?

Does TPk need to have a greater role in the future?

I’m not sure it’s a greater role. The ministry has to play the right role in government. When you look across government, the Ministry of Education is primary in education, the Department of Health is primary in health, and so on. The real levers are outside of this ministry. So the right role is for us to add real value to the process, and the value we can add is, I think, we know Māori people well.

Especially because of our regional presence, we can bring a depth of understanding about Māori, where they live, what their aspirations are.

Government can only do so much as far as Māori development goes, because most of the development has to be led by, and responsibility taken by, Māoridom itself. Māori want to do more things for themselves. And one way to dampen that is for government to overplay its hand. There is already an emergence of iwi

leadership … So we’re not thinking, ‘What more can we do?’, because that might crowd out what they are doing.

In general, the role of Te Puni Kōkiri is changing. Our role is to facilitate and broker the engagement of Māori with government.

The days of a Department of Māori Affairs that did everything, from the cradle to the grave, for Māori have gone – which is as it should be. Te Puni Kōkiri used to deliver a lot of programmes for Māori. Now I think that Te Puni Kōkiri should do less of that and concentrate more on connecting Māori themselves with the various other ministries – education, health, housing, and those sorts of things. We are much more of a facilitator and a broker.

But your Performance improvement Framework report in 2010 said very clearly that TPk needs to exert more influence.

I think that’s always a challenge for the ministry, but Te Puni Kōkiri’s role is to support the Minister of Māori Affairs. To do that, you will need thinkers, implementers, relationship builders. That’s what Te Puni Kōkiri already is. Any refocus is just reshaping it, so that it’s more closely attentive to what the Government wants.

what’s happening with the working party, led by Piri Sciascia, looking at the future of the ministry?

Their report is in front of ministers, and ministers will consider it. Hopefully by the time

Photo: Te Puni Kōkiri

There’s something around tailoring services to be able to connect with whānau really well. At the end of the day, it’s about building strong, trusting relationships. Those families are

already targeted by existing services, but those services may not be tailored to their needs.

We’ve done a lot of research on what marketers call ‘the last three feet’ – if the products are on the shelf, how do you move people towards the product that best fits with them? And the answers are around navigation – helping people navigate all the public services that are out there – and around advocacy and connecting with whānau.

10 Public Sector December 2012

of my handover, ministers will have gone through that process and be able to provide guidance on how the ministry can be refocused and refined.

In the report, it talks about Te Puni Kōkiri being a bit of an innovator for Māori activity.

It may be that we should trial stuff, test stuff, then, if it works, we should pass it off to other ministries to deliver.

Is TPK being significantly reduced in size as was reported in February?

That just shows that anything that happens in this ministry tends to get into the media very quickly. That was nothing more and nothing less than the requirement by senior ministers for every department to tighten its belt.

At that time, I said to my staff, this is what we need to save, and if we can’t make those savings through efficiency, we might have to reduce the headcount by 50.

But we are finding efficiencies; we have vacancies that we haven’t filled. So we have been able to manage our way through that issue – I wouldn’t say with no difficulty, but without the sort of difficulty that all that media exposure would have warranted. There is no closing of regional offices, and very few actual job losses. There are some people who have chosen to move on, and we haven’t replaced them. We also reviewed our support services area last year and there were a handful of job losses from that exercise.

Does that mean regional offices are staying?

Te Puni Kōkiri needs to have a presence, not only in Wellington, but out in the regions.

There is an argument that iwi and Māori communities out there could do more for themselves … And I agree with that. But I still think that there is room for Māori public services out in the regions that are closely aligned with the government of the day and the priorities of the minister, and you can’t get that through contracting out those functions to other people. That’s why Te Puni Kōkiri, for the time being, does need to have a strong regional presence.

you’re excited about building trade links for Māori into China. Why? The Māori cultural perspective seems to resonate with the Chinese. We are building the relationship, investing in the relationship, and from there, interest will follow. The Māori way of doing business – kanohi ki te kanohi, face-to-face – resonates there. In places where culture matters, like culture matters to the Chinese, the coming together at a cultural level is a very strong foundation for later, ongoing connections on a commercial and business level.

What’s next for you?

I’m not looking for another big role, but I’m looking for opportunities with iwi and in the private sector. I don’t propose to go on extended gardening leave! In particular, I’m

hopeful that I can still play a role in facilitating Māori business links with China. I do think there is scope for some really good economic growth opportunities for New Zealand, and Māori, in China.

Why does China interest you?

It’s so diverse, and so large. I have been lucky enough to get out of Shanghai and Beijing and get into some of the provinces and experience something of the indigenous people’s way of life. Some of those villages are 400 years old, and the way they live life in that village is still very much in the traditional way. Outside the cities, China is still very rural and based on small communities and farming.

In Guizhou, which is one of the poorest provinces, New Zealanders have been assisting them with their agricultural businesses for 25 years. We have two of their farming cadets over here and two of our young Māori people are over there. There’s a lot that New Zealand can contribute to China in terms of some of its own development. And all of that comes back to the people-to-people connection.

Any parting thoughts as you leave this role?

I think Te Puni Kōkiri is now a trusted public service organisation. We are trusted within the public sector; we have a trusting relationship with the minister; and we have trusted relationships between ourselves and Māori. That’s a real foundation from which the new chief executive can refocus and refine Te Puni Kōkiri.

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December 2012 Public Sector 11

Photo: NZ Police

A cultural response in the aftermath of tragedy

“In your hour of greatest need, you need people you can rely on to do their job, to care for you and treat you as well as they can. I feel that is what we accomplished,” says Inspector Rakesh Naidoo, New Zealand Police National Strategic Ethnic Advisor.

Naidoo is talking about the work of the NZ Police Māori, Pacific and Ethnic Services Cultural Response Team in dealing with the needs of different ethnic communities in the aftermath of the devastating February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.

He was a key member of that team, which won the State Services Commissioner Award for Excellence in responding to the Canterbury Earthquake at the 2012 IPANZ Gen-i Public Sector Excellence Awards.

RoSe NoRThCoTT reports.

12 Public Sector December 2012

Responding to tragedy Naidoo says, “As we sat in Wellington watching news of the earthquake unfold we started receiving calls from embassies and friends and family of people trapped in buildings. It quickly became apparent that a large number of people from various ethnicities, religions and cultures were affected and would need assistance.”

Superintendent Wallace Haumaha, NZ Police General Manager of Māori, Pacific and Ethnic Services immediately decided to form a cultural response team (CRT), the first time in the history of New Zealand policing that a CRT was deployed for a major disaster. Haumaha drew together 12 police members from around the country that had specialist cultural, religious and linguistic skills, consisting of officers from Māori, Pacific, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Philippine and African ethnicities.

Their main aim was to provide cultural and linguistic support to the families of the victims.

Arriving in Christchurch the evening of the earthquake, members of the CRT navigated their way across the devastated city. The next

day the team went to Burnside Community Hall where around 600 family members were gathered for the first NZ Police briefing.

“We quickly saw that the families who didn’t speak English couldn’t understand a word that was being said and would be culturally embarrassed to raise their hands in such an environment and talk about such a sensitive topic in front of so many people,” recalls Naidoo.

The CRT decided to invite the city’s religious and cultural leaders to address the family members at the next meeting. Separate briefings were organised for each of the

city. One of my CRT colleagues entered the bus and was able to speak to them in Japanese and explain why they couldn’t go into the city. He talked to them about the progress of the rescue effort and how we were going to support them. That helped to calm them.”

The community connection The CRT organised for briefings to be held at community venues that were culturally appropriate for family members, such as the Rewi Alley Chinese School, where some 100 Chinese family members received a traditional Chinese meal, surrounded by community members who spoke their language

The whole essence in today’s climate is one of strong relationships and understanding what community leaders see as important. communities where English wasn’t spoken as a first language. Being able to talk with the traumatised family members in their own language was vital, says Naidoo.

“For example, we received notification that two busloads of Japanese families were on their way and needed to be briefed. Of course they were very distressed and wanted to go into the central

and understood their culture.

George Clark, a Settling-in Coordinator with the Christchurch Migrant and Refugee Centre, secured Ngāi Tahu’s permission to use the central Christchurch Rēhua Marae as a base for Māori, Pacific and ethnic people affected by the earthquake.

The marae became a hub for numerous government and non-

government agencies involved in the relief effort, including the CRT. Marae members also hosted and comforted families of the overseas victims.

“Rakesh [Naidoo] and his team were fabulous in keeping us in touch with emergency work they were engaged with,” says Clark.

“They briefed us three or four times a day and we could then go and support families alongside what they were doing. It was a fabulous example of how a community can work together.”

The community groups that worked with the CRT were extremely willing, says Naidoo.

“We didn’t just turn up in Christchurch and start working with these temples and marae. The NZ Police was the first government organisation to have an ethnic strategy; working in partnership with communities – the DNA was already there in the background.

“We had been working with the NZ Police for many years before the earthquake,” says Abbess Manshin of Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple. Like Rēhua Marae, the temple was used by the CRT as a base. Temple staff and members provided administration support such as printing photos so the CRT could show families what the central city looked like, translation services and organising the temple for briefings. And it was a gathering place for Buddhist families. Abbess Manshin also provided the CRT with cultural and religious guidance.

“The NZ Police worked very hard to understand the different cultures and how to deal with the families and the people who had passed away with dignity and respect. Their efforts and thoughtful attitude very much comforted the families.”

According to their own beliefs “More than half the earthquake’s victims were from overseas and they wanted to farewell their

loved ones according to their own beliefs,” says Wallace Haumaha.

“Through the CRT, we did our best to help them through this time.”

Cultural liaison offices were attached to each community and assisted the families with their requests and questions 24/7. They attended funerals and arranged for local ethnic community groups to attend and assist with specific rituals. This was essential so that families from overseas did not have to grieve alone.

CRT organised for NZ Police forms such as disaster victim identification to be translated and a CRT member was placed on the Coroner’s reconciliation team to ensure that the specific religious and cultural protocols of the deceased were observed. They ensured that the mortuary was blessed by Ngāi Tahu.

“Many families had travelled thousands of miles to be close to their loved ones. We arranged for the families to visit Burnham Military Camp where they could stand at the fence line outside the mortuary and conduct their cultural ceremonies,” says Haumaha.

He was involved with taking 120 Japanese families to the fence line. There they were told about the prayers Ngāi Tahu had undertaken on their behalf and songs were sung in Māori before the Japanese carried out their own prayers.

“It was one of the most moving rituals that I have seen in my entire career in the NZ Police.

“The biggest lesson we learned was ensuring that no matter what the nature of the disaster is, in the first response you have got to be able to read the landscape and if a cultural response is appropriate then that’s what NZ Police need to provide.”

Breaking down barriers Haumaha says,“The NZ Police have been breaking down cultural barriers for 15 years and in the last

leFT To RiGhT: inspector Rakesh Naidoo, Venerable Abbess

Manshin, Sergeant Patrick whiu, Mr Ahmed Tani, inspector william Fanene, Superintendent wallace haumaha, and Sergeant wayne Panapa.

four or five years we have really gained momentum through the work of the Māori, Pacific and Ethnic Services Team.

“Gone are the days when government organisations could just impose an organisational perspective over the top of the community without expecting some sort of backlash. The whole essence in today’s climate is one of strong relationships and understanding what community leaders see as important.

“New Zealand Police priorities are around changing demographics. We recognise the importance of recruiting people from the Māori, Pacific and ethnic communities who have the right attributes and skills.”

The CRT’s work in Christchurch has won them widespread praise from agency partners, community groups, foreign embassies, the Race Relations Commissioner and most importantly, says Naidoo, from the families who lost loved ones in the earthquake.

He recounts one Japanese father trying to come to terms with why his daughter passed away who said that after the supportive way he had been treated during the tragedy, he could appreciate why she had chosen to live and study in New Zealand.

“Our biggest satisfaction was helping these families in their greatest time of need and giving them service second to none.”

AwARD SPoNSoR

The February earthquake that struck Christchurch in 2011 was a powerful natural event causing widespread devastation and loss of life. The NZ Police recognised that the diverse backgrounds of those who lost their lives meant there would be a need for assistance and support for their families. The Māori, Pacific and Ethnic Services Cultural Response Team provided this support in a culturally appropriate manner assisting more than 400 family members from 20 different nationalities. The commitment of the team is a sign of “our public service at its very best.” i sponsored this award to provide recognition of how many of our public servants went above and beyond to help others. The team handled some of the more complex challenges and this special award acknowledges that outstanding commitment and spirit of service.

– iain Rennie, State Services Commissioner December 2012 Public Sector 13

Getting it right Introduced in 2009, the Performance Improvement Framework review process assesses each agency’s current health, along with its capability to meet its future goals.

As a tool, the PIF has provided public service leaders, ministers, and the public with an unstinting view of the strengths and weaknesses of each agency and the public service as a whole in an ambitious effort to ensure the public sector is fit for purpose in the 21st century. Editor Shelly BiSwell reports.

R

evolutionary is not usually a word bandied about when discussing evaluation processes for government agencies, but for the PIF it’s the word that comes to mind. That’s because while most reviews are retrospective, the PIF is meant to determine an agency’s ability to meet its future goals.

Deb Te Kawa, a Principal Advisor for the State Services Commission and one of the key advisers on the PIF, says the PIF is designed to look back as a way of gauging how an organisation will be able to move forward.

“Of course it’s important to measure performance and have good auditing processes in place, those are a given, but when State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie took office he expressed concern that many of the reports critical of the public service did not always recognise the very real strengths of the state services. Thus the PIF has been developed as one way to help the state service drive its own performance

14 Public Sector December 2012

improvement, and be transparent about that journey.

“A PIF agency review is not an audit, scientific evaluation, an investigation of compliance, or an accreditation process.

Rather it is an integrated, deep, fast, and independent review of an agency’s fitness for purpose and how well placed that agency is to deal with the issues that confront it in the near future.”

PIF Lead Reviewer Murray Horn is even more categorical about what a PIF review is – and what it isn’t.

“The PIF review process is about looking at how an agency currently conducts business and where changes are needed if it is to reach its goals. I call it ‘discontinuous’ improvement, because what reviewers often tell an agency’s chief executive and senior leadership team is that business as usual won’t get them where they need to go. This isn’t meant as an indictment of how an agency has performed in the past, it’s a reality check for how they need to operate in the future to succeed.”

After a career in top management and governance roles for the public and private sectors, including as chief executive of The Treasury, Horn says setting big goals is important and an external review helps chief executives to get clarity on how to achieve those goals.

“It’s crucial that the agency is clear on its goals and sees the PIF review process as a tool to help them along the way. The main product of the review isn’t a report that sits on the SSC website, it’s the discussion and change it effects within an agency.”

Mirror, mirror For an agency review, PIF lead reviewers will read the self review the agency has prepared, along with other reports and information provided. They will also interview the agency’s chief executive, senior leadership team and other key staff, along with stakeholders including responsible ministers, sector leaders, community representatives, and other government chief executives within the agency’s sphere of influence.

Murray Horn says, “The self-review process is an important step, but for a lead reviewer it will only take you so far. The key to understanding an agency lies in the interviews and in knowing what questions to ask and what to listen for in the answers.”

Based on all this input, PIF lead reviewers will draft a report that they will initially share with the agency’s chief executive.

“Even with a positive review, there will usually be elements of the report that the agency’s chief executive initially questions or disagrees with,” says Horn.

Department of Conservation DirectorGeneral Al Morrison agrees.

“When the PIF was introduced, we wanted DOC to be in the first tranche. We were going through a fairly radical change process and we thought the PIF would provide independent verification that we were on the right track. In fact, we were so confident about the direction we were taking that we asked for Paula Rebstock to be our lead reviewer, because we knew she’d be no nonsense and would be thorough in her approach.

© Dragoneye | Dreamstime.com

The Performance Improvement Framework:

“After providing complete access to The PiF review areas where the PIF could be process is our files and our staff, I was shocked improved and the SSC’s PIF about looking when I received the first draft of team readily took those suggesat how an the report. While the reviewers saw tions on board. agency currently many positives, there were a couple Te Kawa says, “The PIF is all conducts of operational issues that cut across about improvement. Sometimes business and the organisation. My first response to where changes it feels like we are in a restless the report was reactionary, ‘they must are needed if it quest to keep improving the PIF. have got it wrong.’”

Improvement has big upsides. is to reach its goals.

Morrison says that after mulling The first set of suggestions from the report over he realised while he our clients helped us find 33 per still felt that the reviewers hadn’t got cent in operational efficiencies it completely right (he figures their findings across our entire programme.” were about 90 per cent accurate), they had One of the major changes to the PIF since pointed out areas for improvement and that it was introduced is the inclusion of a peerwhat he had in his hands was a useful guide to review process once a PIF agency review has improve the organisation. been conducted. The draft report that the “I had to move from looking at the PIF as agency’s chief executive team review includes a performance assessment to looking at it for the performance challenge narrative of the what it was – a powerful tool for change. report without the performance ratings. The “There’s that human tendency to protect Lead Reviewer Peer Review Panel, as it is and defend your organisation and your staff formally known, reviews the same draft report, who have worked so hard, but at the end of along with the proposed performance ratings. the day the reviewers and I share the same The panel then meets with the agency’s lead goals for the organisation and their input has reviewers to discuss the review and make provided guidance on how to attain those recommendations. goals.”

PwC Partner Debbie Francis is a PIF Lead A year after the review, Morrison asked Reviewer and Chair of the panel. She says the Rebstock to provide a follow-up review (a peer-review process brings rigour to the PIF. step that’s now a formal part of the process) to “PIF reviewers have all held top manageconfirm the agency was on track. ment positions and are familiar with the work“That review led to good conversations and ings of the public sector, but it’s still a subjecadvice for further improvement.” tive process. By the lead reviewers’ findings also being held to a peer review, you ensure a A restless quest similar lens is used across all agencies. It also Like the agencies it was set up for, the PIF has allows for additional perspectives that may gone through a review process to ensure it is assist the agency.” fit for purpose.

Francis adds that the panel ensures consistDeb Te Kawa says there have been a ency in the performance ratings system. number of refinements to the PIF as lessons “For many agency chief executives the have been learned. performance rating system – with its green, “We have clarified who our clients are for amber, red scheme – can still be the most each review: the chief executive and senior provocative aspect of the PIF. The rating leadership team of the agency, the responsible system provides a focus, but it’s quite imporminister, and central agency chief executives. tant we get the metrics right. The panel An important aspect of the PIF is that it’s a process is an additional way to ensure that the transparent process that allows stakeholders, ratings given in a report are robust.” media, and the public the opportunity to see All together now how an agency is doing, but the findings are The reviews have provided crucial feedback to meant to assist agencies in meeting their goals individual agencies, but central agencies are and to provide ministers and central agency also able to see system-wide patterns. leadership with an independent view of an Te Kawa says, “The system-level findings agency’s capabilities.” suggest that we are doing a number of things Both reviewers and chief executives saw

well. We are responsive to ministers and we are good at delivering on the priorities of the government of the day. We also see high levels of integrity and probity of our financial management.”

Horn and Francis agree we have a good public service, but say as lead reviewers they also see areas where agencies can lift their game.

Horn says, “We are really good at responding to events, like the Canterbury earthquakes, and to ministerial priorities. Where we still have work to do is in building strong institutions and working better across the system.

“While integrity is critical, so is delivering results. There are certain things the public and the Government are going to expect of the public service and in those areas we need a high-performing public sector that delivers.”

Francis adds, “By looking across the system, central agencies are also better able to see where they can add value and if there are sector-specific challenges or opportunities that need to be addressed.”

Te Kawa says the PIF complements the aim of the Better Public Services programme to take New Zealand from having a good public service to a great public service in four to five years.

“We are already number one in the world for the absence of corruption. We have to keep that. We also want to lift performance in a number of other areas to make sure we have the best public service possible.”

Reviewing the reviewers Confidence in the PIF is dependent on how much respect the lead reviewers command. Agencies, ministers, and the public all need to have complete confidence in the credibility, objectivity, and abilities of lead reviewers.

As the SSC’s website states, lead reviewers are “not armchair critics or academic commentators. They are people of mana and credibility who have led major change in both the public and private sectors and now hold significant governance roles.”

December 2012 Public Sector 15

A bold new era

The Department of Corrections’ Smokefree Project achieved something no other corrections jurisdiction in the world had ever done before. In one day – 1 July 2011 – it made New Zealand’s 19 prisons smokefree, bringing about a monumental shift in prison culture. The success of this project has resulted in healthier and safer prisons and saw the department win the Public Sector Communications Award in this year’s IPANZ Gen-i Public Sector Excellence Awards. RoSe NoRThCoTT explores how the Department of Corrections delivered smokefree prisons without serious harm or incident.

A high-risk project

T

he doomsayers predicted prisoners would riot and prisons would burn. While these Armageddon scenes didn’t come to pass, Brendan Anstiss admits he was concerned during the entire project.

As General Manager Prisons, Anstiss says it was on his neck to successfully deliver this high-risk project in 12 months. Smoking was an ingrained part of prison culture with around two-thirds (or 6000) prisoners and one-third (or 1300) prison staff smokers.

“Making all 19 New Zealand prisons smokefree on the same day was a huge undertaking that required a big leap of faith for us to implement in a relatively short period of time. It was probably the most high-profile project Corrections had ever undertaken and it had never been done anywhere else in the world.”

The government’s decision to make prisons smokefree was made for both health and safety reasons. Given the serious health consequences and associated health costs of smoking and second-hand smoke, it was considered the right thing to do for prisoners and staff.

Smokefree Prisons also addressed safety issues such as misuse of lighters to make weapons and start fires. There were 76 fire-related incidents in New Zealand prisons in the year before the ban, with potentially deadly consequences as has been shown overseas.

Corrections also wanted to stop the use of tobacco products as currency, where prisoners trade it for coveted items such as twominute noodles or packets of chocolate biscuits, something which can lead to violence.

Empowering staff The Smokefree Prisons strategy had four planks.

“We started with an education campaign to ensure all staff and all current and future offenders understood what was happening and when,” explains Anstiss.

“The campaign had a strong public health message and was run in conjunction with the Ministry of

Photo: Department of Corrections

Spring hill Corrections Facility at night.

16 Public Sector December 2012

Health and Quitline New Zealand.”

One of the most effective initiatives was posters which were put in places frequented by prisoners and potential offenders, including prisons, courts, probation offices and police stations.

“Secondly, we wanted our 4500 prison staff to be champions of this policy, in particular those who quit smoking. Giving up can be very difficult and these staff supported others and shared their stories.”

The third plank was support for prisoners. This included access to the 0800 Quitline and to books about quitting smoking, prisoner “quit champions,” and Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) – patches and lozenges.

The final plank was a phased withdrawal of smoking in the month leading up to the implementation so everyone wasn’t going cold turkey on day one.

Fairness and flexibility The foundation of the communi-

“Making all 19 New Zealand prisons smokefree on the same day was a huge undertaking that required a big leap of faith for us to implement in a relatively short period of time.”

Photo: Department of Corrections

Smokefree prisons:

cations approach was to profile the project as something staff and prisoners had to work together to do to achieve a common goal.

“Prison systems tend to operate on a concept of relative fairness,” explains Anstiss. “Prisoners saw that the policy was being implemented nationally. They didn’t see special groups or staff members being favoured.”

Empowering prison officers as educators and communicators and giving prison managers the autonomy to tailor their communications approach were key to the project’s success.

“Prison managers had the freedom to find out what their sites would respond to. Staff as quit champions could then pick and choose what approach and collateral would work best for their site. Some sites even chose to become smokefree prior to the 1 July implementation. All prison canteens added more healthy food options and sites provided more exercise and structured activities like sports tournaments and board games to keep prisoners busy.”

On 1 July 2011 prison staff took a reasonable and light-hearted approach to enforcing the change, using humour to gain buy-in from prisoners. In some units lollipops and other confectionary were swapped for lighters and tobacco.

This approach kept the enforcement good-natured and calm, and was evidence of staff owning and driving the project in a way that suited their prison site.

Planning for trouble Given the high-risk nature of the project, Anstiss says planning and management had to be exemplarity. It required a concerted effort over 12 months to get the project across the line, something he says was challenging in itself given conflicting priorities and other work pressures.

Mitigating the risks included

planning for the worst contingencies. While Anstiss says some people saw this as planning for failure, he wanted to be sure that if something bad happened – such as riots or serious harm to prison staff enforcing the policy – they had planned a way to manage it.

Corrections’ Advanced Response Teams were ready, trained and able to rapidly respond to disorder or protest. The New Zealand Police and New Zealand Fire Service were also ready in case their help was needed.

There were also logistical challenges, such as ensuring prisons didn’t suck up all the NRT stocks and leave the general public short.

Operationally, a system had to be put in place to get valuable personal information out of the wealth of information prisons had gathered about prisoners’ smoking habits in order to detect if individuals were stockpiling or trading cigarettes.

impact of the change.

Corrections is also hopeful that the confidence prisoners gained through quitting smoking will encourage them to make other positive life changes around things like drugs, alcohol and crime itself.

Prisons are demonstrably safer places, with a 72 per cent reduction in fire-related incidents in the year following the smoking ban.

“We are also proud that we prevailed despite the many media outlets that were very negative about Corrections being able to pull off the policy change as planned,” says Anstiss. “We really felt the constant external pressure of negativity about our ability to implement the programme without serious incident.”

Galvanising goals Anstiss says, “The first key learning out of this project is that you can achieve anything with the support of the organisation behind it. We needed all of our 4500 staff to make this a success.

“Secondly, be bold, but not reckless. Smokefree Prisons was a high-risk approach but it had huge returns as well. We’ve applied that thinking in other areas of our work. For example, one of our Better Public Services targets is to slash re-offending rates by 25 per cent by 2017. Galvanising goals are important for an organisation.

They bring people together and focus them on big ticket items and say ‘this is something that is really worth doing.’”

Change for the better From 1 July 2011, prisons across New Zealand have been smokefree, with significant health benefits to all prisoners and staff. Academic studies have shown a significant reduction in harmful particles in the air and staff say prisons are a far more pleasant place to work.

Tobacco products along with lighters and matches are now contraband items, and while a small group of prisoners continue to find innovative ways to create their own cigarettes, Anstiss says these are easily detected and dealt with.

Other results include prisoners re-prioritising their spending, such as buying phone cards to call family instead of tobacco. With one of their main pastimes now banned, prisons have increased structured activities and exercise, something Anstiss says has increased prisoner health and well-being, and helped manage the

AwARD SPoNSoR

At Talent2 we want to acknowledge our career public servants. The work they do is complex and vital to the well-being of our nation, but often not fully recognised by our communities. Talent2 wants to support the public sector in attracting the very best talent and to help job seekers see the public sector as a viable, rewarding and interesting place to work.

Supporting the iPANZ Gen-i Public Sector excellence Awards is our way of demonstrating that support in a positive and celebratory way. The role of effective communications has never been more critical than it is in today’s environment and we were thrilled to present the award to such an innovative and impactful initiative. we look forward to some equally exciting nominations next year.

– Peter de Boer, General Manager, Talent2

December 2012 Public Sector 17

An important part of the public service equation Dr RM (Robin) Williams CB, CBE

Dr Robin Williams, Chair of the State Services Commission between 1975 and 1981, was among the audience at the recent IPANZ series of lunchtime talks to commemorate the centenary of the Public Service Act 1912 (see pages 21–23). JohN R MARTiN took the opportunity to talk to Williams about his time at the SSC.

A

phone call to Robin Williams during the Applied Mathematics Laboratory (DSIR) Christmas party in 1962 changed the course of the career of this eminent mathematician. The call was from the office of the Minister of State Services Hon TP (Tom) Shand requesting a meeting. After that meeting, Williams was offered and accepted appointment as a member of the SSC. A Cantabrian, Williams was educated at Christ’s College and Canterbury University where he completed a degree in mathematics early in World War II (he also studied philosophy with Karl Popper). From 1941 to 1944 Williams worked at the DSIR Radio Development Laboratory (concerned with radar) and was then seconded to the British team working in the United States and Canada on the Manhattan Project that produced the first

1941 DSiR

atomic bomb. At the end of the war he was able to take up the Shirtcliffe Fellowship deferred during wartime and to attend Cambridge University (he was also assisted by DSIR). In 1949 he was awarded a PhD by Cambridge and returned to New Zealand where he joined the Applied Mathematics Laboratory established by ID Dick. Williams was Director of the Laboratory from 1953 to 1962.

The State Services Act 1962 put in place the system that was to govern the public service until 1988. It followed the findings from the Royal Commission on the State Services (known as the McCarthy Commission), which had been established largely on the initiative of the Institute of Public Administration.

Williams’ appointment was to the four-person SSC that replaced the Public Service Commission.

The PSC had been at the centre of the politically neutral, merit-based, unified public service that had existed since 1912. While these principles were endorsed by the McCarthy Commission, there was also a call for “forceful and imaginative leadership” from the new SSC rather than continuing as a “supplier of staff services.”

Williams recalls that “Mr Shand was clear that the ‘restructured’ commission had a new role.”

Shand was also clear about the independence of the commission.

Although in its early years the Applied Mathematics Laboratory was largely oriented to agricultural development, Williams was not unfamiliar with the work of the commission. In the post-war years the PSC, in which JK (later Sir Jack) Hunn played a promi-

1953

DiReCToR, APPlieD MATheMATiCS lABoRAToRy

18 Public Sector December 2012

nent part, was engaged in projects seeking to improve efficiency and economy in the public service through what was known as O&M [Organisation and Methods], building on operational research – a quantitative basis for decisionmaking – developed during the war. To assist with these projects the commission called on the Applied Mathematics Laboratory and Williams built up a good relationship with those who some of his scientific colleagues were inclined to see as “a bunch of clerks.”

On his appointment to the SSC, Williams was given responsibility for a portfolio of departments, most with a technological orientation, such as the Ministry of Works and Agriculture. He brought to the commission a different experience from his fellow commissioners, but thought that there was merit in “cross-breeding” in a diverse public service.

(Interestingly, in addition to Williams, two other permanent heads came from the Applied Mathematics Laboratory: Ian Dick, Mines, and John Darwin, Government Statistician.)

In 1967, Williams was appointed as Vice-Chancellor at Otago University. During his time at Otago he was at the centre of a notable testing of the notion of a career public service.

The 1962 Act had removed the right of appeal against permanent head appointments, but retained appeal rights for other positions. Consistent with the emphasis on a career service, the Act also provided that if appointments to departments were made

1963

APPoiNTMeNT To SSC

1967

ViCe-ChANCelloR oTAGo UNiVeRSiTy

During his tenure as a commissioner, williams saw the relationship between the SSC and departments as one of “partnership.” from outside the public service it must be demonstrated that the appointee had “clearly more merit” than any internal applicant.

When Williams was appointed as Director-General of Education in 1971, a deputy in the department (ANV Dobbs) was able to appeal against the appointment because as an employee of a university, Williams was an “outsider” and not exempt from appeal; a case of clearly more merit had to be sustained. There was widespread surprise when Dobbs’ appeal was successful. As a consequence, the State Services Act was amended in 1973 to define hospital and education service employees as “insiders” whose appointments to permanent head appointments could not be challenged.

In 1973 Williams was appointed as Vice-Chancellor at the Australian National University, Canberra. In 1974 he was approached by the Hon Bob Tizard, Minister of State Services in the Kirk Labour Government, to return to New Zealand as Chair of the SSC, a position he took up in February 1975.

The New Zealand economy was severely affected by the oil crisis of 1974 and 1975, and when Williams took up his position in 1975 there was a strong emphasis on reducing the costs of government.

1973

ViCe-ChANCelloR AUSTRAliAN NATioNAl UNiVeRSiTy, CANBeRRA

An early initiative by the National Government, led by Robert Muldoon, was to freeze staff ceilings in departments in 1976. Williams, concerned about the need to avoid arbitrariness and to maintain flexibility in staff management, developed the ‘sinking lid’ system under which departments were required to reduce staff by 1.5 per cent; how that was to be achieved was a matter for the individual departmental head. The reductions across the service were pooled at the centre and departments could make a case to the SSC for reallocation from the pool, and ultimately to the Cabinet Committee on the State Services.

An important priority during Williams’ period as Chair of the SSC was the improvement of opportunities for female, Māori and Pacific public servants. The Human Rights Commission Act was passed in 1977, and the era saw discriminatory measures eliminated, maternity leave extended, and the introduction of flexible working hours (‘glide time’).

Although no female appointment at the permanent head level was made, Williams was pleased that in 1976 the position of National Librarian – an appointment open to challenge under the clearly more merit provision – was accepted

by Dunedin City Librarian Mary Ronnie. Another important appointment was that of Kara Puketapu in 1977 as Secretary of Māori Affairs, associated with the tu tangata policies of the 1970s emphasising community development.

The State Services Act 1962 introduced new arrangements for the appointment of permanent heads. Selection was the responsibility of an “augmented” SSC

1975

comprising the chair, another commissioner and two members from a panel of permanent heads elected by their peers – an institution that became known as the College of Cardinals, a term attributed to Henry Lang (Secretary to the Treasury, 1969 to 1977).

There were advantages in this system in which the panel members were independent of the SSC and ministers. Williams recalls that after agreement was reached in the augmented commission he would ring the departmental minister and inform them of the proposed appointment. On no occasion did a minister seek to intervene in the appointment process; they accepted that they had no authority in this area.

There was no pressure from ministers for wholesale reform of the public service during the 1960s and 1970s. Williams wonders whether there might have been more if Shand had remained the responsible minister (he died soon after the 1969 General Election). A number of machinery of government changes did occur during this time, however, notably the establishment in 1964 of the Ministry of Defence. The Ministry of Transport was also formed in the 1960s and the very small departments, Island Territories and Marine, were absorbed into larger ministries. The Department of Social Welfare was established in 1971. In Williams’ time as Chair of the SSC an important development was the establishment in 1978 of the Ministry of Energy, bringing together the New Zealand Electricity Department, Mines and the Ministry of Energy Resources.

Much of the State Services Commission’s attention in the decades following the 1962 Act was taken up by pay fixing.

Application of the principle of

Portrait of Professor Robert williams CBe, Vice-Chancellor, Australian National University, 1973 to 1975. Artist: william A Sutton. Reproduced courtesy of the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o waiwhetu. Collection of the Australian National University. external relativity presented serious problems in an era of high inflation, militant industrial activity, and large private-sector wage settlements. Occupational classification was introduced and internal relativity was important, but national pay rates led to claims of public service pay leadership. A major difficulty was that because of opposition from the state unions the crucial Pay Research Unit in the Department of Statistics was not effectively in operation until 1979.

During his tenure as a commissioner, Williams saw the relationship between the SSC and departments as one of “partnership.” Inspectors became Management Support Officers with an “emphasis on working

with departments.” Increasingly, authority was delegated to departments. Although the so-called red tape of the Public Service Manual was often held up as a symbol of bureaucracy, Williams believes that the requirement for uniformity in staff matters was sound in a unified service of the size of the New Zealand public service and spread across the country.

Looking back over 50 years since he first became a member of the State Services Commission, Robin Williams believes that the commission played a significant role as “the guardian of the public service ethic, as a body independent of the government in staff matters, and as an institution that public servants felt they could approach about perceived wrongs or injustices in their departments.”

ChAiR oF The SSC December 2012 Public Sector 19

A century of public service

I

n October, the Ministry of Culture and Heritage and IPANZ jointly hosted a series of seminars to commemorate the Public Service Act 1912.

Dr John E Martin, Parliamentary Historian, began the series with an account of what led to the birth of the modern public service.

John R Martin, IPANZ Fellow, then recalled the journey of the public service between 1920 and the State Sector Act 1988.

Professor Jonathan Boston, School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington, recounted the tumultuous 1980s and the revolutionary changes made to the public service during that decade.

And, in the final seminar, Professor Peter Hughes, School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington, discussed the public service of today and what the public service of tomorrow may look like.

In this issue of Public Sector we feature highlights from Dr John E Martin and John R Martin’s presentations. Visit www.newzealandhistory.podbean. com to listen to podcasts of all four presentations.

20 Public Sector December 2012

excerpts from “Patronage and scientific

bureaucratic rationalism”

by Dr John e Martin

Understanding where we have come from – in more than a century and a half of a public service in New Zealand – helps situate where we are today. At the turn of the 20th century, bureaucratisation was part of the move to greater democracy, by severing the strong relationships of patronage between ministers and departments.

Through the 19th century the move to a strong bureaucratic form of employment in the civil service had been greatly resisted by politicians. Initially, patronage went hand-in-hand with ‘patrician’ government by the political elite drawn from runholders, merchants, and lawyers.

This would soon change. By the 1870s a new breed of harder-nosed, aggressive, entrepreneurial and ambitious politicians (Vogel was the archetype), concerned those who had relied upon the self-restraining ‘moral purity’ of patrician politicians. At the same time, the heightened importance of public works finance raised the spectre of corruption.

While some attempts to limit patronage did occur, for example the Disqualification Act 1870 excluded from political office paid public officeholders and contractors for government work, in reality the local electorate ‘roads and bridges’ politician became increasingly important at the national level with the abolition of the provinces. Lobbying for local public works was a constant feature, variously described as ‘log-rolling’ or ‘pork-barrel’ politics. One man’s corruption was another’s honoured promise in the never-ending scramble for public works.

The 1880 Commission on Civil Service, headed by one R Douglas, urged retrenchment, but seemed happy with ministerial patronage as a means of restricting civil service employment, even if it was appalled at the South Island Commissioner of Railways being involved in a firm to whom contracts had been given. And while the 1886 Civil Service Reform Act introduced competitive examinations for civil servants patronage remained prevalent.

By the early 1890s, Richard Seddon’s use of the Public Works portfolio to reward his supporters (including the creation of coopera-

tive public works) showed just how ingrained patronage was in the system, something that only increased from 1893 with his ascension to Premier when John Ballance died.

Seddon saw dispensing of political favours through ‘government billets’ as an integral part of his beneficent populist image. He did not attack the core civil service but, at a time of great expansion of employment in government, took full advantage of the appointment of cadets and temporary staff.

Enlightened patronage on behalf of the people was OK; patronage entrenching powerful interests was not. The state it was generally acknowledged was an instrument to certain ends – the question was whose ends?

The patronage of previous conservative governments was different in the minds of the Liberals – because the state and civil service were the instrument of the wealthy class (runholders, farmers, merchants, businessmen and banks).

Reforms and reformers But from the 1900s, the Conservative opposition began to attack ‘corruption’ in government. And a new Reform group, led by William Massey, emerged. The group became the Reform party with an eye to reforming the public service. The party claimed it could administer the state better and more efficiently – without the corruption, patronage and largesse or faddish radical left-wing elements of the Liberals.

In response, the Liberals argued their approach was a more effective method of ensuring democratic representation. The debate in their eyes boiled down to whether one preferred to be governed by ministers or by departmental undersecretaries. They definitely preferred the former, especially as they claimed to represent ‘the people’ while the bureaucracy did not.

When the Conservative Alexander Herdman became an MP in 1902 he looked at overseas examples of public service reform, in particular Australia and Britain. He was also much influenced by the American Progressive movement. Herdman was strongly committed to adopting business methods in government.

Initially attacking political patronage and inefficiency he began to promote the concept of scientific management which was closely associated with Progressivism.

Herdman introduced his first Public Service bill in 1904 and others in 1909 and 1911.

While the three bills were defeated, they laid the groundwork for the Public Service Act 1912 that he would introduce as minister when the Reform party came into power.

As a further sign of the changing times, in 1911, a Royal Commission led by Southland businessman WD Hunt was appointed to enquire into the unclassified departments of the public service (the commission became known as the Hunt Commission). The commission had a wide brief and took a broad view of its job. Its report (AJHR, 1912, H-34) was consistent with the thrust of the Reform initiative.

Changes to the public service The report of the Hunt Commission was overtaken by events. In July 1912, Reform defeated the Liberal government in a vote of no confidence and took charge. By the time the Hunt Commission’s report was available in September, Herdman’s Public Service bill had had its first reading. Reform would put into practice what it had been preaching for some time.

The Public Service bill – the most important of Reform’s first session – was enacted on 7 November 1912. It came into operation on 1 April 1913.

It created: • a unified, politically neutral, career public service • based on entry by competitive examination, promotion on merit (qualified by seniority), with security of tenure and retirement pensions • ministerial authority to appoint, promote, dismiss and fix salaries was abolished and such powers were placed in the hands of an independent commissioner appointed by the government but reporting to Parliament and serving a fixed term free of ministerial supervision • a Public Service Commissioner, responsible to Parliament, and two Assistant Commissioners to be appointed by the Governor • four divisions with grading, regrading every five years and rights of appeal, but Parliament retained the right to increase/ reduce total salaries by a ratio.

Under the Act, the public service was set on its new course. At a stroke it had been cut away from its 19th century foundations in patronage and patrician ‘moral purity,’ and modernised in line with progressivist reforms and scientific management philosophies in other countries.

In its legislative framework the influence of Australia was notable, but unlike in Australia even the appointment of permanent heads was taken out of political hands. The increase in the size, functions and specialist expertise in the public service as a result of the reforms

Alexander herdman, The new Attorney-General and Minister of Justice. Canterbury Times, 21 August 1912. had been recognised by a framework for the bureaucratic expansion of the state that was to continue through two world wars and beyond.

The new framework brought issues with it. How was political independence to be combined with efficiency and economy as desired by succeeding governments? Was there a need to guard against bureaucracy exceeding its function and becoming an interest in its own right?

excerpts from “The ‘Old’ Public Service” by John R Martin … In the zeal of the reforms of the 1980s there was sometimes a revisionist view that said there was no public service before 1988 and if there was, it was so bad that we don’t want to know about it. If that view remains, I do seek to apply a corrective. There was a public service, there were some remarkable public servants, and there were some remarkable achievements. To take a concrete example – that of the Public Works Department, latterly the Ministry of Works – we can simply adapt the tribute to Christopher Wren: “if you seek [their] monument – look around you.”

Retrenched – the 1920s Historian Alan Henderson has labelled the period between 1920 and 1935 as “The Era of Retrenchment.” From the appointment of

an Economies Commission in 1921 through to the National Expenditure Commission of 1932 there was a never-ending pursuit of ‘efficiency and economy’ in the state services.

What kind of a public service are we talking about in the 1920s? First, its size: In 1920 there were just under 8500 public servants, including 1500 temporaries. By 1929 this had grown to 9700, including 1800 temporaries.

It was a male public service. The women appointed as temporaries during the war were quickly dispensed with and those who remained were subject to severe discrimination – pay ceilings, superannuation rights, and appeal rights to name just a few.

It was also a white public service. I do not have figures identifying the number of Māori staff, but one may presume that the

Department of Native Affairs would employ a greater number of Māori than other agencies. And we know that Sir James Carroll and Apirana Ngata as ministers sought to recruit Māori officers. But even after a significant increase in staff in the mid-1930s the total was only 224 (of whom 83 were temporary).

The Depression – 1929 to 1934 Fiscal retrenchment was the policy response to the lean years of the Depression. As one example, the Finance Act 1931 reduced all state employees’ salaries and wages by 10 per cent and further graduated pay reductions took place the following year.

The staff of the public service had stood at 10,157 (including 2047 temporary staff) as at 31 March 1930. By 31 March 1934 the total > was 9663.

December 2012 Public Sector 21

service authorities, not without misgivings and in the face of much opposition, are now beginning to look for exceptional ability and to provide it with exceptional opportunities; they are beginning to understand that a high average of competence and integrity and elaborate safeguards against abuse cannot in themselves secure good government, even if they are the indispensable groundwork of good government.

Wartime

‘The sword of Damocles – modern version.’ Auckland Weekly News, 19 September 1912 Riding a wave of growth The economy was already in recovery when the Forbes/Coates Coalition Government suffered a resounding defeat in November 1935. Labour “rode a wave of growth in the international economy.” The new government set out on a programme of increased state activism.

Most dramatically there was an expansion of public works activity – notably roading and hydro-electric generation, and state housing.

In 1938 the foundation of the modern welfare state was put in place with the Social Security Act. And at the end of that year, in response to rapidly falling exchange reserves, import licensing and exchange controls were imposed, thus inaugurating the style of economic management known then as ‘insulationism’ that was to endure until the 1980s.

The most obvious impact on the public service was on its size. From 10,750 as at 22 Public Sector December 2012

31 March 1936, staff numbers grew to 20,780 by 31 March 1940. Forty per cent of those were temporary.

The public service between two wars Two characteristics stand out in any examination of the public service in the inter-war years and the post-war period. First, that it was largely free of corruption and secondly, that it was an egalitarian institution.

But it was becoming clear in the 1930s that more was required. All the commentators closer to the pre-war period identify a change in expectations of the public service. For example, Leicester Webb in his 1940 survey of New Zealand government concludes: In recent years there has been a growing realization that mere negative safeguards against abuse cannot produce government of the high quality necessary in a State which is grappling with the complex problems of human welfare and economic planning. The public

World War II brought change to the public service as with every other aspect of New Zealand society. The principal problem was “maintaining adequate quantity and quality of staff” (Henderson, 1990, p. 163). As in World War I, the obvious remedy for staff replacement was the recruitment of temporaries, particularly women.

Looking forward, directions in which the public service developed over the next 40 years can, I believe, be tracked back to the war, including: • the emergence of a group of outstanding, relatively young public servants who were to lead the service over the next two decades • the accepted influence of the major interest groups and the crucial place of institutions outside the formal departmental structure, notably the Economic Stabilisation Commission • the changing place of women in the public service.

A review – the McCarthy report In the full-employment, post-war years the public service faced problems of recruitment and retention. In the late 1950s, the Institute of Public Administration began to put the case for a review of the state services. On 6 July 1961, the National Government announced the formation of a Royal Commission chaired

by Sir Thaddeus McCarthy. The McCarthy report was published in June 1962. It endorsed the principles of the 1912 Act and acknowledged that “this country has been so well served for so long by loyal, incorruptible, and politically neutral State servants that it may be inclined to assume that this is part of the natural order of things” (Royal Commission, 1962, p. 7).

The public service, nonetheless, needed to adapt to the changing order of New Zealand.

While a number of the commission’s key recommendations were not incorporated into legislation or were not given full effect, many of the report’s findings formed the basis of the State Services Act 1962, including: • the assertion that “ultimate responsibility for the efficiency of the State Services rests inescapably with the Government” • the translation of the Public Service Commission into the State Services Commission to “accomplish more than the Public Service Commission has been able to do” • delegating many responsibilities of the Public Service Commission (including appointments and promotions) to permanent heads • classifying positions into occupational groups, each with a salary scale aligned with equivalent outside employment.

The Act was to govern public administration in New Zealand until 1988. Admittedly, the watered-down recommendations of the commission’s report were a disappointment to McCarthy and experience over the next 25 years was, in retrospect, below the expectations of those who sought “forceful and imaginative leadership” from the SSC rather than a “supplier of staff services” (Royal Commission, 1962, p. 52).

Much of the explanation for this can be attributed to the preoccupation of the SSC with pay and industrial issues, including the occupational classification of the public service and the establishment of machinery and procedures for pay research as the basis of stateservices-wide pay fixing.

Much was achieved in ‘nation building’ (Brian Easton) and in welfare provision and delivery in post-war decades – and the contribution of the state services was substantial. But by the end of the 1970s there was a mounting tide of criticism – notably of departmental relations with the public, issues of ‘responsiveness’ and also the organisation and performance of the trading enterprises. But there were no far-reaching plans for reform. Twenty years after the Royal Commission, despite the commitment of successive chairs of the SSC and the continuing pursuit of efficiency and economy, the structure and organisation of the public service was much the same as had

been examined by McCarthy.

Change was not high on the agenda of politicians.

Looking back

The criticism most often levelled at the ‘old’ public service by those seeking change was that it was not capable of initiating and implementing ‘reform.’

The criticism most often levelled at the ‘old’ public service by those seeking change was that it was not capable of initiating and implementing ‘reform’ – whether in terms of policy or in modernising the institution. As John Roberts (past Victoria University of Wellington) noted: New Zealand has an honest, intelligent and public-spirited bureaucracy that is incapable of major reform. ...Since then [the first Labour Government], the absence of policy demands has produced an inward-looking, stable, uncreative, leadership suspicious of political action and resistant to political management (Roberts, 1978, p. 96).

My contemporaries would no doubt have a range of views on the judgement that the ‘old’ public service was ‘inward-looking, stable, uncreative …’ My own view is that the leadership of the public service was well aware of the challenges facing New Zealand from the 1960s onward. The vulnerability of the economy and the emerging tensions in society were certainly not outside the range of leading public servants. Many shared a number of propositions about public policy: • that politicians were inevitably preoccupied with the short term (emphasised by the three-year parliamentary term) • that key decisions necessary for welfare in the long term would only be taken when the public was informed and persuaded that they were necessary • that the public service as a repository of knowledge and expertise was constrained (and rightly so) by the Westminster conventions from too boldly entering the public domain • that the task of informing the public would need to be undertaken by bodies formed for that purpose – the Monetary and Economic Council, (from 1961), the National Development Conference (from 1968), the Planning Council (from 1976), and the Institute of Policy Studies (from 1982) • that the dominance of the principal interest groups in economic management required

the nurturing of relationships between public service and private sector leaders • that policy formation should take the long view and be cross-disciplinary.

By the 1980s there was a degree of impatience in departments, particularly the large agencies delivering services.

The delays and layers of paperwork required by ‘commission control’ were becoming increasingly irksome. The welcome that senior public servants gave to the devolution of powers under the State Sector Act 1988 was hardly surprising.

At the same time, the SSC was the embodiment of the unity of the public service. We were all employees of the SSC. And there was a sense of ‘duty’ (which I prefer to ‘loyalty’) across the public service. That duty was owed to the Crown, represented for the time being, by the government of the day.

Finally, the practical significance of ‘institutional memory’ embedded in the ‘old’ public service cannot be overstated. The continuity of a department that respects and carries forward the knowledge of which it is a singular repository is an essential attribute of an effective public service. In particular, I want to pay a tribute to the generations of those who I have come to call ‘the hardened Lambton Quay warriors’: the middle-level and long-serving public servants who know their legislation backwards, who are familiar with the context of decisions taken in the past, and who know their way around the people who matter within their particular sector.

Further reading Alan Henderson, The Quest for Efficiency: The origins of the State Services Commission.

Published by the State Services Commission, 1990.

Leslie Lipson, The Politics of Equality. Published

by University of Chicago Press, 1948.

R J Polaschek, Government Administration in New Zealand. Published by NZIPA/OUP, 1958.

John Roberts, ‘Society and its Politics’ in Thirteen Facets (ed) Ian Wards. Published by Government Printer, 1978.

Royal Commission, The State Services in New Zealand. Published by Government Printer, 1962.

Leicester Webb, Government in New Zealand.

Published by Department of Internal Affairs, 1940.

December 2012 Public Sector 23

PoiNT oF View

After the ground stops shaking – Anatomy of a disaster

by David McBride

I

© Nigelspiers | Dreamstime.com

am originally from Northern ireland, therefore no stranger to disasters of the man-made variety – that is to say conflict. I have also been in the army as a volunteer officer for, well, longer than I care to say. over the course of my medical career as an academic occupational physician i have volunteered to do ‘army’ things on several occasions, the last time as a medical officer at Burnham Camp. I think that i may have originally offered my services in March 2010. i am not sure whether it was the middle of the month or not, but the ‘ides of March’ are, according to Shakespeare, something worth ‘bewaring.’ other omens that year were the September earthquake in Canterbury and the Pike River Mine disaster in November. i’d started my work at Burnham doing military general practice. ‘well, the soldiers are all fit and healthy, aren’t they?’ I hear you cry. That’s right, until they start to train hard and break: it was busy.

My wife Del and i were, however, enjoying the Selwyn District and Christchurch. As movie addicts the cinema was good, lots of places to go walking, running and cycling, the ‘Rolly’ pub was across the road. well, all that running makes one thirsty.

Then of

24 Public Sector December 2012

course came the first big army exercise of the year, and (typically) i was the only doc ‘in the frame’ to go. That is why i found myself sitting on a packing case out the back of Timaru Airport on ‘that’ day, 22 February 2011. We were waiting to be ‘infiltrated’ or something of that nature. you can tell that i had been absolutely busting to get out there. i knew that the shake was something major, and when Del rang my cellphone i found out exactly what it was. The upshot was a rapid re-deployment back to Christchurch and another packing case office in Latimer Square for a day or two, then back to Porridge at the Medical Treatment Centre for me, the cordon for my colleagues, and Christchurch women’s hospital for Del – as a midwife, not a consumer! while disasters are, well, disasters, you have to try to make sense of the implications. i like to think through beginning to end so you have the ‘acute’ phase, the ‘post-acute’ phase, and ‘recovery to normal.’ in the acute phase you deal with casualties. Simple things help, like dealing with the ‘worried well’ who wander off to the eD [emergency department] and clog it up. The solution is to have medics at the community centres. one of my most humanitarian acts following the earthquake was, in fact, to give an elderly lady a cup of tea and a sandwich. She had been queuing for water and had fainted. in the post-acute phase there is a focus on getting the essential services running again.

There are some main health effects to look out for at this stage. in the military personnel who i was seeing, this was fatigue. long hours on the cordon, mostly associated with boredom but

punctuated by aggravation. Shift work does not help the circadian rhythm and it can be very upsetting. you need to, in military terms ‘decompress,’ which is where alcohol can come in. This is not ideal but, at the time, feels good. with my background, one of the things that worried me during the post-acute phase was the wind-blown dust, which contained some silica, possibly asbestos and, on occasion, possibly micro-organisms. i think that the New Zealand Fire Service may have measured it, but i did not see the results: occupational health people, unlike public health doctors, do not have a statutory role in disasters. we’re now in the recovery to normal phase, which most of you know about more than i.

But there is much to consider on what we did well and what we could do better during the acute and post-acute phases.

Right now, i’m working with other researchers on a study of the health effects of the Christchurch earthquake on frontline workers of which category many of you are members. The study consists of two postal surveys sent out to frontline workers. we have had roughly a 20 to 30 per cent response rate. This is, apparently, not bad for a postal survey, especially under the circumstances. What we are finding is, understandably, emotional upset and practical things like having to dig into superannuation to survive financially.

As for me, Del and i eventually returned to Dunedin. we miss our lives in the Selwyn District, but no longer wake in the middle of the night to hear the coal train passing the Rolly and wonder whether it is another ‘rumble’ on the way. i myself did not get straight home, as i was once again volunteered – this time for medical duties in Afghanistan. But that, as they say, is a different story.

University of Otago Associate Professor David McBride is the principal investigator on a study that is looking at the health impacts on frontline workers who responded to the 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.

FROM THE CROWD.

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