Strong essential services accessible to everyone.
The Green Party will make sure that public services support the public good.
Investing in public services means investing in all of us. Public services are the way we make sure every person, whānau and community can live with dignity, security and real opportunity — not just those who can afford to pay.
For too long, underinvestment and privatisation have left essential systems stretched, fragmented and harder to access. Public services should be treated as investments in our shared future, not costs to cut. The Green Party will ensure that health care, education, housing, infrastructure and support for families are recognised as public goods that are planned and funded to meet people’s needs, not shaped around private profit.
Aotearoa has enough to properly invest in the services and infrastructure everyone relies on and to ensure these services stay in public hands. Strong public services also require a strong, capable and independent public sector with a commitment to uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Aotearoa can have an economy that works for all of us, where collective resources are used to improve quality of life, care for te taiao and give every community what it needs to thrive.
Our plan
- Uphold Te Tiriti throughout the work of the public service, and fund Māori organisations, iwi, hapū and marae to run community and environmental initiatives that meet the needs and aspirations unique to their rohe (region).
- Fund public services adequately to ensure that they are able to work in service of the public good, and that public services (and state-owned enterprises) remain in public hands.
- Reform the public finance system to ensure that the fiscal management approach supports New Zealand’s long-term resilience, the productive capacity of our economy, and an ensures the health and well-being of everyone.
- Affirm the importance of advocacy and monitoring done by independent commissions with expertise in an area, starting with restoring the monitoring role of the Children’s Commissioner alongside its advocacy function.
- Introduce standardised career progression, pay, community secondment opportunities and training across the public sector to improve staff retention and skills development, and ensure equal pay for equivalent roles.
- Provide secure, flexible and full funding arrangements for the community sector, recognising the value of the work, and ensuring independence within a supportive legislative framework.
- Improve training in Te Tiriti and te reo Māori for all public servants, resulting in consistency across all agencies.
- Ensure that the public service is a leader in disability-responsive employment, including by providing resources and training to meet access needs and counter ableism.