Winston Peters. Photo: Samuel Rillstone / RNZ
Government coalition partner New Zealand First wants to "remove woke 'DEI' regulations" from legislation that it helped put into place five years ago.
A member's bill placed into the ballot on Friday would "put an end to the woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector", party leader Winston Peters said, by amending the Public Service Act 2020.
It would:
- remove requirements for public service employers to ensure their workforces reflected societal diversity
- remove "requirements for chief executives and boards to promote diversity and inclusiveness as part of being a 'good employer'," including specific references to Māori involvement
- remove "mandates promoting diversity and inclusiveness in public service workplaces"
- end the public service's consideration of "workforce diversity and inclusiveness"
- exclude the same from the public service commissioner's three-yearly briefings
- and end the "obligation for panels appointing chief executives to consider diversity and inclusiveness".
"The public service exists to serve New Zealanders - not to be a breeding ground for identity politics," Peters said.
The Public Service (Repeal of Diversity and Inclusiveness Requirements) Amendment Bill follows radical moves in the US by the second Trump administration to purge its public service of anything it deemed to be promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
NZ First's proposal is not a government bill, and will not be looked at by Parliament unless it is drawn randomly from the ballot.
NZ First voted in favour of the Public Service Act in 2020, when it was in coalition with Labour. Then-deputy leader Fletcher Tabuteau said it would "deliver better outcomes and better services" by "creating a modern, agile and adaptive public service". He lost his seat in the 2020 election, and senior NZ First MP Shane Jones has been photographed wearing a cap reading "Make New Zealand Great Again", an adaptation of US President Donald Trump's famous slogan.
According to the Hansard transcript, the word 'woke' was not uttered once during the bill's final reading. The only references to diversity and inclusion were made by Labour leader Chris Hipkins.
The Greens also voted in favour. National and ACT both voted against it.
National MP and Cabinet minister Chris Bishop said on Friday while the party believed in "meritocracy" and "quality over identity politics", he was yet to see what changes exactly NZ First were asking for.
"Clearly it's a real priority for NZ First, and you know, if the bill gets pulled from the biscuit tin, we'll have a look at it… I haven't thought about it deeply and we haven't considered the bill and if it gets pulled, we'll have a chat about it."
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