Proposed job cuts show the need for an “economy of mana”, where public capability, skills and community wellbeing are treated as long-term value, not short-term costs, says researcher Xiaoliang Niu.
As the New Zealand Government signals 8,700 public sector job cuts, University of Auckland Business School doctoral candidate Xiaoliang Niu says Aotearoa needs to rethink what economic value really means.
The proposed public sector changes have been framed around efficiency, streamlining and cost savings. The Government says the changes would save $2.4 billion and reduce the core public service workforce by 14 per cent over three years.
“A strong economy is not just one that spends less,” says Niu. “It is one that sustains the relationships, capabilities, institutions, communities and natural systems on which collective wellbeing depends.”
Niu’s research explores a te ao Māori lens on the economy, management, and sustainable circular-economy thinking. He says current debates around public sector restructuring and AI-enabled change reflect a narrow way of measuring value, where short-term savings can outweigh long-term resilience.
“From a te ao Māori perspective, concepts such as whakapapa, mauri and utu ask different questions about decision-making. They ask whether change strengthens or diminishes the well-being of people, institutions and places over time.”
Niu says this aligns with an “economy of mana”, an approach that measures economic activity by whether it upholds dignity, strengthens relationships, enhances collective wellbeing and regenerates the conditions that allow people and communities to flourish.
“This is not about rejecting efficiency or innovation,” he says. “It is about asking what kind of efficiency we are pursuing, who carries the cost, and whether the wider system is stronger or weaker as a result.”
He says AI and new technologies can support public institutions in working better, but should not be treated as a simple substitute for people, institutional knowledge, or public capability.
“A sustainable transition should ask whether New Zealand has built the digital and social foundations needed for that shift. It should also ask whether people can still access essential public services in timely and equitable ways, and whether those whose roles are affected are supported to retrain, redeploy and contribute in new ways.”
Niu says circular economy thinking offers a useful lens because value should remain in circulation rather than being extracted, depleted or discarded.
“From an economy of mana and circular economy perspective, skills and institutional knowledge are forms of value. They should be renewed and kept in circulation, not treated as costs to be removed when immediate savings are needed.”
He says the proposed cuts raise a larger question about how Aotearoa defines prosperity.
“An economy of mana encourages us to ask how transition can enhance collective wellbeing, how value can keep circulating through communities, and how economic systems can become more resilient across generations.”
By Te Rina Ruka-Triponel of Waipapa Taumata Rau - University of Auckland
