Steven Gaskell: Public Service Expansion

Labour’s expansion of the public service between 2017 and 2023 saw the biggest staffing growth concentrated in a relatively small number of departments and administrative functions. According to figures from New Zealand’s Public Service Commission and reporting compiled from departmental data, the biggest increases came from:

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment — up roughly 2,900+ staff overall during Labour’s term, driven heavily by Immigration NZ, climate policy and construction regulation.

Public Service Commission +1.

Ministry of Social Development — up about 2,277 staff, linked to welfare expansion, social programmes, Covid response, and new social sector coordination units.

Ministry of Education — increased by roughly 1,679 staff, including curriculum, policy, learning support, and reform administration.

Oranga Tamariki — added about 1,340 staff during the period as child protection and social intervention programmes expanded.

Ministry for Primary Industries — up around 1,300 staff.

Ministry of Justice — up roughly 1,122 staff overall, including court operations, violence reduction programmes, and inquiry support.

Department of Corrections — increased by about 1,073 staff.

Stats NZ — grew by around 779 staff, partly related to census and data expansion.

Ministry for the Environment — one of the fastest percentage increases, growing roughly 189% under Labour due largely to climate and environmental policy work.

Ministry for Pacific Peoples — fastest percentage growth at roughly 269%.

Other notable growth areas included:

Communications and PR staff across departments — rising more than 50% to over 530 roles by 2023.

Senior management ranks — up about 33%, with more than 1,000 additional senior managers added.

Overall, the core public service grew from roughly 47,000–50,000 FTE staff in 2017/18 to around 65,000–66,000 by late 2023 — about a 34–40% increase depending on which baseline is used.

Steven is an entrepreneur and an ex RNZN diver who likes travelling, renovating houses, Swiss Watches, history, chocolate art and art deco.