New public management’s impact on capital cities: new economic and employment challenges for Wellington

Abstract

The philosophy of New Public Management, which relies more on market solutions and less on government officials as initiators, has had particular impact for capital cities such as Wellington that are not also their country’s dominant commercial centre. Wellington has been challenged to diversify away from government-related employment during the past 30 years. While it has had considerable success fostering tourism and software and film production, since 2008 growth in employment has been almost non-existent, contrasting with strong growth in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city and commercial centre. In 2013, John Key, prime minister in the country’s centre-right government, triggered debate and local action with an offhand comment: ‘even Wellington’s dying ... all you have there is government, Victoria University and Weta Workshop’.