The Government is muzzling the independent watchdogs New Zealanders rely on to protect their rights and hold power to account - cutting their funding just as demand for their work surges, a new PSA report shows.
Muzzling our watchdogs - the erosion of public accountability in Aotearoa , released today, finds funding for five of the six watchdogs examined has fallen in real terms since Budget 2023 - the Human Rights Commission by 18.5 percent, the Health and Disability Commissioner by nearly 16 percent and the Privacy Commissioner by 15 percent - while demand for their work has soared. And the Finance Minister has already told Ministers to plan for further cuts.
"Watchdogs are the guardians of our democracy. They protect our rights, our Treaty obligations, expose failure and misspending and make sure no Minister or agency is above scrutiny. Starving them of the funding they need to do their job isn’t a budget saving - it’s a choice to weaken accountability," said Duane Leo, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.
"Their independent scrutiny is critical. As the report puts it, ‘at stake is our status as a modern, transparent and robust democracy.’
"The damage is mounting. Complaints to the Independent Police Conduct Authority are up 15 percent since 2023, on top of a 61 percent rise in the four years before that. Yet its funding has been frozen - a cut of more than 9 percent in real terms. This year it told the PSA it doesn’t have the resources to review Police’s decision to pull back from mental health callouts.
"It’s the same story at the Privacy Commissioner. Privacy complaints are up 84 percent since 2023, yet its funding has fallen 15 percent in real terms. Ministers were warned in 2024 that cutting its budget could risk its ability to respond to major privacy breaches - and they went ahead anyway.
"Its website has warned all year of high demand and delays. It now says that if a complaint needs investigating, ‘it will likely take more than 12 months to assign an investigator.’ That is outrageous for such a critical watchdog.
"All while the Government pushes AI across the public service and refuses to update the Privacy Act. New Zealanders’ personal information has never been more exposed, and the watchdog protecting it has never been more stretched.
"The Waitangi Tribunal has seen its funding fall 11.5 percent in real terms. Its own strategic review found it ‘experiences significant issues in resourcing its hearing programme’, and that ‘the matter of resourcing will need to be addressed.’
"All this paints a bleak picture. A government that believes in accountability would properly fund the institutions that make accountability real. When our watchdogs are muzzled, every New Zealander is put at risk. That’s why come 7 November we need a new government - one that invests in these critical institutions and values their role in strengthening our democracy," said Duane Leo.
The PSA is calling for watchdog funding to be restored, and for their budgets to be set by a cross-party parliamentary committee, independent of the Government they scrutinise.
Read the report in full: Muzzling our watchdogs: The erosion of public accountability in Aotearoa
Key recommendations
The next government must:
- Restore funding now. Bring watchdog budgets back to levels that reflect rising demand and inflation.
- Act on the warnings. Fix the urgent gaps watchdogs have identified in privacy, data and environmental regulation, so New Zealanders are protected from avoidable risks now and in the future.
- Guarantee independence. Extend the Officers of Parliament Committee so it sets the budgets of all watchdogs, not just some.
- Lock in stable funding. Review watchdog funding every three years, after each general election, based on the demands each agency faces. Pay that funding under Permanent Legislative Authority, as already happens with MPs' salaries.
