NZ First leader Winston Peters says "all sorts of judgements" are being used in the employment process in the public sector. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is adamant diversity is being preferred over merit for people getting jobs in the public sector.
He is ramping up his efforts against what he calls "woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector".
NZ First has proposed new legislation that would eliminate the likes of "mandates promoting diversity and inclusiveness in public service workplaces".
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told RNZ on Tuesday he was open to adopting some of his coalition partner's ideas.
Luxon said he had tasked minister Judith Collins with overhauling the Public Service Act to ensure it was a "meritocracy".
Asked for examples of wokeness, Luxon cited the Labour government's focus on "Wellbeing Budgets", co-governance, and the target to reduce prisoner numbers.
Peters told Morning Report "all sorts of judgements" were being made about employing people. Employers were not making their selections on merit, but on criteria they had made up themselves.
"Many people are losing out because they don't fit the criteria. They do on the basis of merit, but people aren't being chosen on merit, they're being chosen on a job description to do with race and gender and other matters."
He said there were several references about diversity and inclusiveness in the Public Service Act and Internal Affairs documents and he was "astonished" some people seemed to be unaware of them.
There was no doubt the right people weren't being hired for jobs and "countless" people had complained to NZ First about it, Peters said.
He cited the example of a couple whose wife was accepted for specialist medical training because she was a woman while her partner missed out because "he was the wrong race or the wrong gender".
The couple had decided to move overseas to further their careers, Peters said.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER
Hipkins rubbishes claim
In response, Labour leader Chris Hipkins told Morning Report it was absolute nonsense.
"If Winston Peters could come up with an example of that I would be willing to listen, but he can't because it hasn't happened.
"The diversity and inclusion provision in the Public Service Act - which Winston Peters voted for when they were passed in 2020 - simply says that the public service should strive to look like New Zealand."
Hipkins said Peters, David Seymour and Luxon were trying to "desperately mimic Donald Trump in the hope that this is going to turn around the fortunes of their flailing government".
He said the current government had departed "pretty radically from" John Key government's direction.
"I wasn't a fan of them, but actually, they tried pretty hard to resolve issues around historic grievances around the treaty, to ensure Māori were included in senior leader positions within the public service to make sure the public service reflected the make-up of New Zealand."
Hipkins said New Zealanders wanted a responsible government that got the basics right, but they were not getting it.
Peters is wrong - diversity expert
Maretha Smit, who is the chief executive for Diversity Works New Zealand, the national body for workplace diversity, equity and inclusion, said Peters was wrong and was "clearly very emotional" about it.
She said it was not affirmative action but an attempt to slow down the recruitment process and allow time for consideration of merit among candidates who might not have been considered in the past.
The clauses in the legislation were intended to mitigate against unconscious bias.
Everyone grew up learning a certain amount of bias and over time these shortcuts to making judgements were no longer appropriate. It was helpful to slow down decision making to have a wider perspective on what was needed in workplaces.
Smit did not believe the best qualified people for jobs were being passed over in favour of others on the basis of having diversity. If it had happened, it would need to be addressed.
"But there are countless examples of how all laws are incorrectly applied. This is not something wrong with the law, it's a problem of implementation.
"What we currently have in the Public Service Act is very sensible and it would be very unfortunate if we were to lose that because what is in there should not get people who are not competent into jobs."
In the private sector, a lot of businesses were understanding the value of getting diversity into their workplaces in a range of areas including innovation, customer service and new product development, Smit said.
