Taxpayer Talk: Dr Oliver Hartwich on restoring democratic control of the public service
Dr Oliver Hartwich
13 April, 2026
Dr Oliver Hartwich talked to Peter Williams on Taxpayer Talk about his paper arguing New Zealand's public service system is fundamentally broken, with the Public Service Commissioner, not elected ministers, controlling the appointment of department chief executives and shaping their career incentives. Drawing on Germany's model of ministerial responsibility and contrasting it with the American and Australian systems, Dr Hartwich proposed a transition toward giving ministers direct control over their departments while maintaining safeguards such as qualification requirements and a duty to object to unlawful orders. Watch below.