The Foreign Affairs Minister has suggested future cuts to the Ministry of Foreign Affaris and Trade could be cancelled after the election.
Winston Peters was not concerned about potential future job losses at MFAT, saying no Budget could constrain a future Parliament.
The government announced on Tuesday that public service jobs are to be slashed by about 14 percent over the next three years in a shake-up that is expected to deliver $2.4 billion of savings.
The changes were made public in a pre-Budget speech delivered by Finance Minister Nicola Willis, and would result in about 8700 job losses by mid-2029.
There are currently just over 63,000 full-time public servants, which is a slight decrease under this coalition government from the high of approximately 65,000 in the 2024/25 year.
