Summarised by Centrist
Lindsay Mitchell argues that the new Social Investment Agency (SIA), launched by National in 2024 under former police commissioner Andrew Coster, has already fallen into the same woke bureaucratic traps as Labour-era departments, talking about “inclusion,” “wellbeing,” and “bringing your whole self to work” rather than delivering measurable social results.
Despite promises from Finance Minister Nicola Willis to invest “in what works,” Mitchell says the agency’s first annual report is a showcase of fashionable psychobabble and cultural tokenism.
The SIA claims to value diversity, yet 70 percent of its staff are women and 80 percent European. It promotes a “bespoke Māori Cultural Capability Plan,” complete with te reo training and Treaty education, while its stated values—Tāngata, Manawa Māui, Taunakitanga, Puarētanga —appear without English translation.
Mitchell says the agency’s focus on staff wellbeing and “our people” misses the point: its job is to serve the vulnerable.
Between its emissions pledges, Treaty affirmations, and wellness committees, she concludes that the SIA looks less like reform and more like a continuation of the same politicised public service “marking time till a left-wing administration is restored.”
