Luxon will argue he had no mandate for radical public sector reform. But it may be too late

PremiumOpinionOpinion byAndrew KetelsNZ Herald·22 Aug, 2026 05:07 PM7 mins to readAndrew Ketels was the Act Party’s chief of staff from 2020 to 2025 and has worked as an advisor to the National Party. He is currently head of government relations for corporate affairs firm Sherson Willis.‌Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is committed to the idea that the Government needs to sell some of its assets and recycle the capital back into areas where it can do more good, like health and education. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Earlier this week, Christopher Luxon was asked by Mike Hosking whether he agreed with Act’s policy to remove ethnicity-based requirements on government departments as employers. He answered that the bigger prize was to “radically reform and restructure” the public sector so it could deliver better services. That would have been