Cutting bureaucrats not option, says Cullen

Reducing the number of Wellington bureaucrats to pay for tax cuts would reduce the productivity of frontline public servants, Finance Minister Michael Cullen warns.

Using two speeches yesterday to continue Labour's fightback against National's tax cut calls, he said it was a myth that significant savings could be made almost overnight by cutting the head office bureaucracies, generally regarded as the "bad guys".

"If we want more nurses and police officers we need to maintain capability in those back-office functions that keep them functioning on the frontline.

"The need for cost-effectiveness and expenditure control is clear and in the Budget I announced a review of major areas of expenditure where we need to get better at managing risks."

But "hollowing out Wellington in an indiscriminate way" would likely cut the productivity of frontline public servants and lead to poor decisions and a waste of public money.

Dr Cullen has been under fire since the Budget for offering a small tax threshold adjustment in three years, handing National more traction with its argument for tax relief as soon as possible.

National says it would cut the number of bureaucrats to help finance tax cuts, but Labour says National would slash frontline public servants' jobs such as teachers and nurses.