In search of a golden thread: recent developments in public management across New Zealand and Australia

Macaulay, Michael

doi:10.1080/14719037.2020.1796289

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…New Zealand's centralised political institutions, and recent trends towards greater coordination in the public sector and crisis and pandemic planning, facilitated a 'command and control' form of COVID-19 governance (Macaulay, 2020). On 24 January, New Zealand's Ministry of Health set up a COVID-19 monitoring team and installed the New Zealand national security system on 27 January.…”

Section: Crisis Governance In New Zealandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two routes to precarious success: Australia, New Zealand, COVID-19 and the politics of crisis governance

Bromfield

McConnell

2020

International Review of Administrative Sciences

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Australia and New Zealand are routinely presented as sharing more in common than the federal and unitary systems separating them. As two modernising Antipodean settler societies, their governing trajectories have embraced waves of public administration/management reform. Shared pathways seem matched by their relative, although precarious and fragile, early successes in the crisis challenges of COVID-19. This article contextualises and examines one crucial point of separation: two very different crisis governance routes to such outcomes. Australia’s federal variant of multi-level governance, more used to addressing diverse regional challenges than shared national threats, has been characterised by an evolving balancing act of multi-jurisdictional agendas and bureaucratic–political conflicts. By contrast, New Zealand’s unitary system of governance, well-versed in the centralisation of power, has produced lower levels of intergovernmental conflict. Our analysis of these differing pathways also makes a contribution to our conceptual understanding of successful crisis governance. Points for practitioners Administrative arrangements based around federal or unitary systems are both quite capable of contributing to successful outcomes. Essential for both are inclusive crisis discussions that are consistent with the norms of the respective systems. Success can be fragile, especially in a pandemic. Appropriate inclusive discussions can facilitate responses to cascading crisis developments and act as a safeguard against complacency.

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Section: Crisis Governance In New Zealandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two routes to precarious success: Australia, New Zealand, COVID-19 and the politics of crisis governance

Bromfield

McConnell

2020

International Review of Administrative Sciences

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“…With regards to social policy, NZ has received high international praise for its innovation and far sightedness in unveiling the country's first well-being budget (Macaulay, 2020). So, it is hardly surprising that the government decided to continue with its social well-being policies in its "Wellbeing Budget 2020: Rebuilding Together" to cushion the effects of the pandemic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The NZ Government has a parliamentary democratic budgeting process and has received widespread praise around the world for its innovation and far sightedness in unveiling the country's first Wellbeing Budget in 2019 (Macaulay, 2020). The country is recognised as "a leader in the area of budget transparency and provides extensive budget information to citizens and the parliament" (OECD, 2019, p. 223).…”

Section: Crisis Budgetingmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Zealand Government’s budgetary response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Narayan

Kommunuri

2021

PAR

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Purpose This paper aims to provide a commentary on how well the New Zealand (NZ) Government has used the budget as a tool to tackle the social and economic problems associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The role of public budgeting as a political instrument is also critiqued. Design/methodology/approach An analysis was carried out of relevant documents that included government policy statements, budgets, news articles and website information on the pandemic. Meaningful interpretation of information and reflections helped provide the basis of the commentary. Findings Public budgeting has a prominent role in addressing a major global crisis. Budgets need to quickly respond to the needs of the moment in saving lives and sustaining people’s well-being, businesses and the economy. In a crisis situation, the social, political and economic factors become crucial determinants of budgetary policy measures. Although strong political leadership is required to deliver budgets under unimaginable circumstances, the ideology of the political party in government can be a powerful predictor of fiscal policies. Crisis budgeting will result in mounting budget deficits and public debts that will take many years for future generations to pay back. Practical implications This paper provides a significant learning for other nations. These lessons will guide budget policymakers to prepare better for potential crisis in the future. Originality/value This paper is original and based on the NZ Government’s budgetary response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be valuable in formulating budget policies and public funding decisions in a major crisis.

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“…It still remains to be seen whether public value and its iterations are an accurate description of change actually occurring in the state. There is a growing literature around this, with time having passed for academics to consider whether it is indeed a 'shift' or a 'layering' or some sort of hybrid (Goldfinch and Yamamoto, 2019;Macaulay, 2020). An expanding literature on public value does not necessarily mean that change as envisioned is occurring, as ongoing debates Barbara Allen Barbara Allen around the nature of change of public systemsto what extent public administration has moved from bureaucracies, to markets, to networks, and back againmay allude to the fact that the problems we hoped public value would solve have not yet been solved.…”

Section: Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning from Performance Improvement: The New Zealand Experience and Insights on How a Performance System Survives

Allen¹

2021

Preprint

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In search of a golden thread: recent developments in public management across New Zealand and Australia

Cited by 6 publications

References 14 publications

Two routes to precarious success: Australia, New Zealand, COVID-19 and the politics of crisis governance

Two routes to precarious success: Australia, New Zealand, COVID-19 and the politics of crisis governance

New Zealand Government’s budgetary response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Learning from Performance Improvement: The New Zealand Experience and Insights on How a Performance System Survives

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