Accessible public and community services that meet the needs of everyone.
The Green Party will build a world-leading public and community sector that is well-resourced, accessible, and accountable.
We all rely on public and community services. Everything from your local library and hospital, to ensuring the systems are in place to hold decision-makers to account.
A strong public and community sector that upholds te Tiriti o Waitangi is a vital part of a decent society. But too often essential services are under resourced and inaccessible.
At every level, we need to make sure the services we all rely on are well-resourced, accessible to all, and held to account.
Our plan includes better support for public services and for community service providers. We will also improve accountability and monitoring, and support people working in the public sector to understand their obligations under te Tiriti o Waitangi.
We will also restore the ability of the Children’s Commissioner to monitor decisions that influence how children and young people are looked after in the care and protection system.
The time is now to prioritise public and community services that meet the needs of everyone.
Our plan
- Uphold te Tiriti o Waitangi throughout the approach of the public service, including by funding Māori organisations, iwi, hapū and
marae to run community and environmental initiatives that meet the needs and aspirations of Māori. - 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.
- Appoint a taskforce to hold public agencies accountable for reaching their wellbeing objectives.
- 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 o Waitangi and te reo Māori for all public servants, resulting in consistency across all agencies.
- Ensure that the public service is a leader in accessibility support, and hiring and appointment practices that promote representation of disabled people.