Christopher Luxon needs to front up and tell Kiwis what public services are going to be cut, as it’s revealed that departments have been asked to cut a further 15 percent.

“National has already taken the axe to the public service. Now David Seymour wants to sharpen it and take another swing,” Labour Campaign Chair Kieran McAnulty said.

“They’re asking departments to work out how to cut thousands more jobs, without telling New Zealanders which services across the country are going to go.

“These jobs include the staff keeping our health system running, police responding when people call for help, people at our borders keeping New Zealand safe, and the workers supporting our schools and communities.

“Cut those jobs and you don’t just gut the services Kiwis rely on. That's less money in local economies, which will hurt small businesses and leave communities worse off.

“You cannot keep cutting the people who deliver essential services and pretend New Zealanders are getting a better deal.

“We’ve already seen the impact of National’s hiring freeze in our health system leading to steadily declining services for people, and our earthquake monitoring team unable to operate fully staffed. This isn’t headcounts on a spreadsheet - people's lives will be affected.

"For weeks, National has refused to say whether more cuts were coming. Now we find out the process was already underway behind closed doors.

“National needs to come clean about what these cuts will mean for the people who depend on public services every day,” Kieran McAnulty said.