PSA Kaihautū Māori Marcia Puru strongly opposes the move, saying it's a blatant attack on Māori - Māori kaimahi, te Reo Māori, and Tiriti development at Stats NZ, but it also removes sector-leading professional development opportunities for all staff.
"This proposal is yet another example of the austerity-driven, anti-diversity political environment this Government has pushed so hard for. It doesn't need to give directives - it's very clear to agencies that any public services that focus on Māori are not welcome."
Puru says that Stats NZ will be failing on its legislative functions such as quarterly reporting on the Te Ture Mo te reo Māori (Māori Language Act).
"My main concern is how Stats NZ will continue to meet its obligations as a Tiriti partner. To keep up with these legislative functions, Stats NZ will need to hire external evaluators - which will no doubt cost them more in the long run. In short, these cuts are regressive and short-sighted."
The Tangata Tiriti team will lose six roles, with three staff merging with the larger People & Culture team. The People & Culture team itself will be reduced by two roles.
These cuts to the team come despite Stats NZ running a $2M budget surplus last year.
"A recent internal review of the Tangata Tiriti Learning and Capability team said it has delivered outstanding outcomes. Stats NZ says in its own proposal document that the Tangata Tiriti team have delivered important work. There's a lot in there insinuating their work is expensive, but no cost analysis was actually completed for the review, or for the document.
"Why not keep these highly valuable workers right where they are, so that they can continue to help upskill their coworkers in te ao Māori?
"The answer, as usual, is a falsely restrained balance sheet. The Government would have the money to pay public service workers if they hadn't given their landlord mates billions."
The Tangata Tiriti team drive internal programmes to improve Stats NZ's knowledge and capability to work within te ao Māori.
"Instead of having a team of in-house experts who have built up relationships within the organisation, Stats NZ is planning on reducing its focus on te ao Māori within growing the workforce and will be scaling back teaching te reo, using a combination of inhouse and outsourced expertise.
"This is a retrograde step that will hinder Stats NZ's ability to engage effectively with Māori, the exact opposite of what the agency needs after they failed to engage with tangata whenua for the 2018 Census."
This restructure is the sixth Stats NZ has undergone since the National-led Government came into power in 2023, cutting staff in December 2023, September 2024, twice in October 2024, December 2024, and now September 2025.
Other PSA statements on Stats NZ:
Govt cuts put even more pressure on vital work of Stats NZ
