Associate Health Minister Casey Costello’s attack on the neutrality of a health official is outrageous and shows again how this Government is fearful of advice it doesn’t like.

"Publicly attacking a public servant for giving advice that you disagree with is unacceptable within our democratic system," said Kerry Davies, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.

"Officials are there to give robust advice so Ministers can carefully weigh all the evidence and make good decisions.

"In this case, the official with expertise in this matter was simply doing the job expected of her by taxpayers. She was pointing out the flaws in evidence the Minister herself provided to justify a $200 million tax break for tobacco companies.

"Taxpayers rightly expect officials to provide robust advice and evidence and challenge Ministers. It’s how our system works.

"Of course, Ministers have a right to reject that advice, but publicly attacking an official undermines a core principle that officials must be able to give free and frank advice to enable good decision-making."

The Public Service Act 2020 makes that principle for officials very clear - ‘when giving advice to Ministers, to do so in a free and frank manner’, so that the public service can deliver on its purpose of supporting ‘constitutional and democratic government’.

"The Minister talks about the need for officials to hold to ‘public sector standards of integrity and political neutrality’ - that is exactly what this official was doing," said Kerry Davies.

"Here we have an inexperienced Minister intimidating officials because she is simply unhappy with their advice. That is wrong.

"The Government promised to base decisions on evidence, but it has consistently ignored the advice and evidence presented to it by officials when Ministers didn’t like it.

"But this Minister has now gone a step too far and her public attack will have a chilling effect on officials. How is that good for our democracy?

"The PSA will be writing to the incoming Public Service Commissioner to express our strong concerns."

About PSA

The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand's largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.

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