Prime Minister Christopher Luxon Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says public servants who leak to the media are undermining the government, and the public's trust in it.
The Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche has issued a directive to public servants to stop leaking sensitive information - a directive which was itself leaked to RNZ.
Sir Brian declined to be interviewed by Morning Report on Thursday.
The Public Service Association says it doesn't condone leaking, but it wants stronger protections for whistleblowers and more emphasis on free advice.
Luxon said there was a lot of government business going through the public service currently and only a small number of leaks which reflected poorly on those who did it.
He did not believe the coalition government was experiencing more leaks than previous administrations.
"I'm not sure that there's, you know, leaks have happened under previous governments, we've got a lot of business going through the public service - it's probably a relatively small number of instances frankly."
Responding to a question on whether National had received public service leaks while in opposition he said leaks "have happened under successive governments. Whether they're happening more or less under ours I wouldn't have a clue given the amount of work we've got going on."
New Zealand favoured a politically neutral public service and he would not like to see a switch to the American system where a change of government meant "a wholesale change" of all public servants.
"We have many excellent public servants and I just think it tarnishes their reputation and professionalism."
The prime minister was asked abut the recent police memo about some changes to their response to some thefts. The memo which was leaked to RNZ resulted in a strong government response and the Police Commissioner announcing the policy would not be enacted.
Luxon responded there were other "genuine ways" of raising such issues but if there was a culture where leaking was acceptable it undermined a politically neutral public service.
"We're very proud of our public servants and the politically neutral job they do supporting whichever government of the day there is. ....They [Leaks] happen sadly and we deal with it..."
Union agrees with PM
PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said she agreed with the prime minister that leaking was unprofessional and public servants must serve the government of the day, even if they disagreed with some of their policies.
Fitzsimons said the union did not condone leaking, and people should expect consequences if they did.
However, she took issue with Sir Brian's direction that leakers should be sacked.
"The Public Service Commissioner cannot impose a blanket approach of dismissing public servants if leaks occur.
"The employer needs to go through a proper and fair process, including natural justice, and they must do what is fair and reasonable by looking at all the circumstances at the time the action occurred."
She said if staff had concerns about aspects of their work, they should raise matters with their managers.
"I don't want people listening to this to get the impression that leaking can be justified in circumstances where it is actually unlawful and is likely to lead to disciplinary outcomes for them because that would be unfair for people to be left with that impression."
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