ACT wants to cut New Zealand's 43 government departments down to 19 and reduce the number of ministers from 28 to 18.
The party unveiled the plan at its 2026 Rally, with leader David Seymour framing it as a structural overhaul rather than the incremental trimming the current government has pursued.
"New Zealand needs a smaller, more efficient government if we are going to balance the books, lift wages, restore trust in democracy, and unlock New Zealand's potential," Seymour said.
The comparison he reached for: Norway. Similar population, 20 ministers across 17 ministries. New Zealand runs 78 ministerial portfolios across 28 ministers. Seymour's verdict on how it got this way: "New Zealand's oversized Government isn't intentional, it's like a hedge that stopped being trimmed years ago."
The consequences, he argued, are practical. "When seven departments share a problem, it can stop being anyone's job to solve it. Kiwis are left frustrated, bouncing between departments or denied straight answers."
Under the plan, each of the 19 consolidated departments would report to a single minister for its budget and outcomes. Ministers would be able to appoint chief executives on fixed terms, renewable once. They could also remove chief executives for specified reasons — non-performance or policy misalignment — though officials would retain public service protections and the right to return to a lower-classified role. Agencies requiring operational independence, including Police, NZSIS, and NZDF, would have that independence protected by law.
ACT would also scrap the Public Service Commission. Currently, Seymour noted, ministers are held responsible for delivery but do not appoint the person running the department responsible for that delivery. He wants that changed.
"Overseas research shows more ministers with spending power means bigger deficits," he said. "When many ministers each control part of the budget, but the cost falls on the whole tax base, each has an incentive to grow their own spending while bearing only a fraction of the cost."
Seymour was direct about where the current government sits on this. "The Coalition Government has accepted the argument for a smaller Government, but current changes are tinkering around the edges. Kiwis are tired of piecemeal change that takes forever, so ACT is proposing a thought-out plan for the whole government, that we can start rolling out immediately in the next term."
Frontline workers — nurses, teachers, police — would not be affected, he said. If anything, the clearer lines of responsibility would make them more effective.
"That is how we unlock New Zealand's potential," Seymour said. "A government with clear structure and limits, not the tangled result of accidental growth. Small enough to be accountable, simple enough to act, and focused on results for New Zealanders instead of managing itself."