1
00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:04,600
Speaker 1: Afternoon, Cabinet has finally ordered government agencies to stop prioritizing

2
00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:07,640
Speaker 1: public services on the basis of race and instead focus

3
00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:10,920
Speaker 1: on need. Government contracts should also be awarded on the

4
00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:13,960
Speaker 1: basis of public value, not on where the businesses are

5
00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:16,840
Speaker 1: mildly owned, like the last government had ordered. Nikola Willis

6
00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:18,320
Speaker 1: is the Public Service Minister with us.

7
00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:21,279
Speaker 2: Now, Hey, Nikolin, good veening, how are you heaving?

8
00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:22,840
Speaker 1: Very well? Thank you? So does this mean we're going

9
00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:24,959
Speaker 1: to get no more stuff at all, like the GP

10
00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:26,920
Speaker 1: visits and hawks Bay being free based on.

11
00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:31,200
Speaker 2: Race, Well, we think it's really important that services aren't

12
00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:37,960
Speaker 2: arbitrarily allocated on the basis of personal identity, including ethnic identity.

13
00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:40,600
Speaker 2: What we're not saying is that you would never be

14
00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:42,519
Speaker 2: able to do that. But if you're going to do that,

15
00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:46,560
Speaker 2: you've got to have some real analytical regular that outlines

16
00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:49,880
Speaker 2: why that is the best way to target that service,

17
00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,720
Speaker 2: because most of the time that's just an actual assumption

18
00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:56,800
Speaker 2: or a proxy, whereas the actual need might be more

19
00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:59,920
Speaker 2: that that. There are people who aren't accessing the healthcare.

20
00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:02,360
Speaker 2: This is because of their housing, because of where they live,

21
00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,080
Speaker 2: the couse of their low income, because of a range

22
00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:08,880
Speaker 2: of other factors, and you're much better to be analytical

23
00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:11,640
Speaker 2: and rigorous because that allows for the best use of resource.

24
00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:14,040
Speaker 1: How confident are you that the public service is actually

25
00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:15,160
Speaker 1: going to follow this instruction?

26
00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:19,840
Speaker 2: Well, this is a binding instruction for the public service,

27
00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:23,640
Speaker 2: and I know that they take their professional responsibility seriously.

28
00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:27,920
Speaker 2: We've gone to great care with the circular. David Seymour

29
00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:30,360
Speaker 2: and I worked hard on it to make sure that

30
00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:35,520
Speaker 2: it gives really clear directions so that when misters identify

31
00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,040
Speaker 2: things in their portfolios that they have questioned about, they

32
00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:41,040
Speaker 2: can go back to the circular and say to their agency, well,

33
00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:43,480
Speaker 2: how do you justify this according to the Cabinet circular?

34
00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:47,360
Speaker 2: Show me your analytical framework, Show me how you step

35
00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:50,960
Speaker 2: through the circular to make sense of this. So yeah,

36
00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:52,240
Speaker 2: I think it's going to make a difference.

37
00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:54,480
Speaker 1: Do you have any idea what value of government contracts

38
00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,320
Speaker 1: were awarded to Maori businesses because they were Maori businesses

39
00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:59,880
Speaker 1: under that labor rule. Ah?

40
00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,200
Speaker 2: Well, it had got to just over eight percent, which

41
00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:06,160
Speaker 2: I understand was about three thousand contracts. Now, what I'd

42
00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,800
Speaker 2: like to say about that is I expect that Marty

43
00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:13,200
Speaker 2: businesses will continue to before and win government contracts and

44
00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:15,520
Speaker 2: they'll do so on the basis of the value that

45
00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:19,480
Speaker 2: they deliver in the community. The problem with the target

46
00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,080
Speaker 2: was that it led to a perception among many people

47
00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:26,320
Speaker 2: who were bidding for government contracts that they weren't a

48
00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,560
Speaker 2: level playing field and that one business would get favored

49
00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:32,360
Speaker 2: over another on the basis that it was defined as

50
00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,239
Speaker 2: a marty business. We want one in contracts because they're

51
00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:37,120
Speaker 2: the best people for the job, Nicholas.

52
00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:39,359
Speaker 1: Things like this get dropped on a Friday because you

53
00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:41,080
Speaker 1: don't want to get too much attention. Are you guys

54
00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:43,240
Speaker 1: doing this on a Friday because you're actually ashamed of it?

55
00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,680
Speaker 2: No? No, I've just had a very busy week as

56
00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:51,440
Speaker 2: the rest of the cabinet. This is an announcement that

57
00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:54,560
Speaker 2: we wanted to make. We've agreed it, We've got it

58
00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,600
Speaker 2: out there. David spoken about it today. I've spoken about

59
00:02:57,600 --> 00:02:58,000
Speaker 2: it today.

60
00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:00,880
Speaker 1: Very heavy to keeping Nan. Give your time talking again

61
00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:03,359
Speaker 1: on Monday. That's Nicola Willis, Public Service Minister and Finance

62
00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:06,160
Speaker 1: Minister of course with us every Monday after six o'clock.

63
00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:10,120
Speaker 2: For more from Hither Duplessy Alan Drive, listen live to

64
00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:13,240
Speaker 2: news talks it'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow

65
00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,040
Speaker 2: the podcast on iHeartRadio,