New Zealand Treasury Explained

Agency Name:The Treasury
Te Tai Ōhanga
Formed:1840
Jurisdiction:New Zealand
Headquarters:Level 3,
1 The Terrace,
Wellington 6011
Employees:529
Budget:Vote Finance
Total budget for 2019/20
$6,149,948,000[1]
Minister1 Name:Hon Nicola Willis
Minister1 Pfo:
Minister of Finance[2]
Chief1 Name:Caralee McLiesh
Chief1 Position:
Chief Executive and Secretary

The New Zealand Treasury (Maori: Te Tai Ōhanga) is the central public service department of New Zealand charged with advising the Government on economic policy, assisting with improving the performance of New Zealand's economy, and managing financial resources. The Minister responsible for the Treasury is the Minister of Finance of New Zealand; however, from 1996 to 2002, there existed a more specific position of Treasurer of New Zealand. The role was created for Winston Peters by the Fourth National Government under Jim Bolger after the 1996 election, and abolished by Helen Clark’s government in 2002.

Treasury has four main functions:

History

The Treasury is one of New Zealand's oldest institutions, having been first established in 1840. Initially the Treasury consisted of just a few officials responsible for managing the Government's day-to-day financial affairs. In the 1920s the department took on a supervisory role over other departments’ spending and oversight of government borrowing.[3]

However, the most dramatic change to the role of the Treasury came in the 1950s when the department began to develop its role as economic advisor to the Government. The Treasury "hit the spotlight" in this role during a wave of far-reaching, and often controversial, economic reforms in the 1980s and early 1990s. This period also coincided with a general shift towards higher scrutiny of government activity and performance, making the Finance portfolio and Treasury operations more transparent.

Since the 1950s, the Treasury has evolved from being a control agency to a "central agency". During this time, departments have become largely free to manage their own resources, with the Treasury's role being to provide central agency leadership, co-ordination and monitoring.

Between 2008 and 2011 Treasury administered the Crown Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme. Under the scheme the government bailed out nine finance firms including South Canterbury Finance to the value of approximately $2 billion.[4]

Today the Treasury employs 363 people, is the Government's lead advisor on economic and financial policy, and has the overall vision of helping governments achieve higher living standards for New Zealanders.

Role

Specific areas of work undertaken by the Treasury include:

Ministers

The Treasury serves 8 portfolios and 7 ministers.[6]

Officeholder Portfolios Other responsibilities
Associate Minister of Finance
Minister for Regional Development Associate Minister of Finance
Associate Minister of Finance
Minister for ACC
Minister of Revenue

List of secretaries to the Treasury

The Secretary to the Treasury is the public service head of the department. The role was created in 1873 when the offices of paymaster-general and under treasurer were amalgamated.[7]

NamePortraitTerm of office
1Charles Thomas Batkin 1873–1878
2James Clark Gavin 1878–1890
3James Barnes Heywood 1890–1906
4Robert Joseph Collins 1906–1910
5Joseph William Poynton 1910–1912
6George Frederick Colin Campbell 1912–1921
7James Jacob Esson 1922–1925
8Robert Edward Hayes 1925–1929
9Alexander Dallas Park 1930–1935
10George Charles Rodda 1935–1939
111939–1955
121955–1964
13Doug Barker 1964–
14−1968
151968–1977
161977–1980
171980–1986
181986–1993
191993–1998
201998 – April 2002
Mark Prebble (acting) April 2002 – 8 April 2003
218 April 2003 – 1 June 2011
221 June 2011 – 27 June 2019
2316 September 2019 –

Structure

Senior leadership[8]

Units within the Treasury

Debt Management Office

The New Zealand Debt Management Office (NZDMO) is the part of The Treasury responsible for managing the Crown's debt, its cash flows and its interest-bearing deposits. The 1988 reforms of the Government's financial management led to its establishment with the aim of improving the management of the Government's debt portfolio.[9]

Central Agencies Shared Services

Central Agencies Shared Services (CASS) is a shared services centre housed within the Treasury. Set up in March 2012, it provides information technology and management, human resources, and finance services to the Treasury, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and the Public Service Commission.[10] Aside from providing these services, the goal of CASS is to set an example for other state sector organisations in sharing service delivery functions.[11]

Crown company monitoring

The Crown owns many companies, including state-owned enterprises, Crown entities, and Crown Research Institutes. The Treasury's Commercial Operations group assists the Crown in the running of these. This group includes what was the Crown Ownership Monitoring Unit (COMU, pronounced "co-moo") from November 2009 to February 2014,[12] and before that the Crown Company Monitoring and Advisory Unit.[13]

Controversies

The Treasury has courted controversy, particularly since the Rogernomics reforms of the 1980s. Given the agency's key influence and impact on fiscal policy, it has been accused by critics in recent years of inaccurate forecasts,[14] regulatory capture and political partisanism,[15] [16] [17] [18] and accepting corporate gifts from the financial industry.[19] [20]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Total Appropriations for Each Vote. Budget 2019. The Treasury.
  2. Web site: Ministerial List. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 15 December 2020.
  3. Web site: History of the Treasury. 10 October 2014. The Treasury.
  4. Web site: The Treasury: Implementing and managing the Crown Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme. September 2011. 1 May 2015. Office of the Auditor-General. New Zealand Government.
  5. Web site: prefu-befu and what it means for your interest rates . Stuff/Fairfax . 2023.
  6. Web site: Our Ministers . The Treasury . 15 December 2020.
  7. News: Parliament . 26 October 1872 . New Zealand Mail . 2 . 12 March 2021.
  8. Web site: Treasury Organisation Structure – The Treasury – New Zealand. treasury.govt.nz. 30 August 2016.
  9. Web site: Welcome to the New Zealand Debt Management Office (NZDMO) . New Zealand Debt Management Office . 15 March 2014.
  10. Web site: Central Agencies Shared Services (CASS) . 18 September 2014 . 10 May 2016 . The Treasury.
  11. Setting up Central Agencies Shared Services . June 2014 . Controller and Auditor-General of New Zealand . Wellington . 7 .
  12. Web site: Treasury completes review of commercial operations . 19 December 2013 . Treasury . 15 March 2014.
  13. Web site: Corporate governance . 2010 Annual Portfolio Report . 19 December 2013 . Crown Ownership Monitoring Unit . 15 March 2014.
  14. Web site: Take forecasts with grain of salt. Bernard Hickey. Auckland. The New Zealand Herald. 15 May 2011.
  15. Web site: Treasury defends accounting practice of not booking potential SOE dividend losses from SOE sell-down until after election. Interest.co.nz. 29 February 2012.
  16. Web site: Stick to knitting, teachers tell Treasury. John Hartevelt. Wellington. Dominion Post. 21 March 2012.
  17. Web site: Commission fiddles while its cred burns. John Armstrong. Wellington. The New Zealand Herald. 7 April 2012.
  18. Web site: Treasury stuck in its ways – stakeholders. Paul McBeth. The New Zealand Herald. 24 January 2012.
  19. Web site: Treasury gift investigation considered. John Hartevelt. Wellington. Dominion Post. 23 July 2011.
  20. Web site: Greens demand audit over corporate gifts. John Hartevelt. Wellington. Dominion Post. 22 July 2011.