Ngā Pūkenga o te Pokapū | Voices from the Centre: Ben King and Staying Curious

08/04/2025

Ngā Pūkenga o te Pokapū | Voices from the Centre is a series where I share reflections on Hāpai Public’s conversations with senior public servants, listening less for soundbites and more for the signals underneath: how the centre sees the system, where it’s heading, and what risks it is naming out loud. This week, Ben King’s kōrero offered a refreshingly candid take on DPMC, not as a fortress of power, but as a support system for the wider public service. His messages on advice, access, data, performance, and curiosity point to a centre that is trying to reframe its role: less about control, and more about enabling the system to hold together. This is the first in a series of five.

Tēnā koutou katoa, e ngā pou o te kaupapa tūmatanui.

This one is mostly for current or former public servants.

The Voices from the Centre sessions Hāpai Public is running feels like standing on a maunga. The view is clearer, the air is sharper and the scale of the horizon, or as in this case the public sector system, comes into focus. And, because the central agency leadership is being generous with their insight, it also feels grounded, candid and true to the spirit of service.

Hāpai Public has asked me to reflect on these kōrero, and I’ll be sharing a fuller piece in the Public Sector Journal soon. In the meantime, I’m using my substack to distill the sessions as they unfold: because the content is rich, and the insights are too important to wait until November.

Here are five messages I took from Ben King’s kōrero. I’ve included my handwritten notes at the end of each observation.

The Centre Isn’t a Fortress: It’s a Support System

Ben King’s view of DPMC is refreshingly humble and pragmatic.

Rather than seeing the central agencies as isolated powerhouses, he framed them as a collaborative support crew focused on lifting the performance of the public service system.

DPMC’s job, in his words, is to focus on “what only DPMC can do”: cabinet processes, national security, policy coordination, and risk management.

There’s a quiet but firm shift here from empire-building to a purpose-and-mission-driven centre.

The signal is that DMPC should only do what only DPMC can do.

Policy Advice Isn’t Just Free and Frank: It Must Also Be Framed

A standout moment was King’s embrace of what he called the “three Fs”: free, frank and framed advice.

It’s not enough to slap down evidence and say, “Here, take it or leave it.”

Public policy professionals must help ministers understand the policy landscape, including trade-offs, complexity, and consequences.

Framing builds the bridge between evidence and decision.

Personally, I loved this moment. It aligns closely with one of the central findings in my doctoral research: that free and frank advice depends not just on content, but on the skilful use of strategic voice and active listening.

The signal is that there’s no point in throwing advice in someone’s face. It needs to be framed to help them act on it.

Public Service Is for Real People: Not Just Elites

King’s career story began not with pedigree, but with perspective.

He called out the meritocratic strength of our system, where someone without elite connections can still reach the top.

His contrast with other public services where places are often locked down by class was a deliberate and generous observation.

For him, public service in Aotearoa is accessible and should stay that way.

This stands in contrast to systems overseas where roles are often gatekept by class, networks, or lineage. In Aotearoa New Zealand, the door, it seems, is still open. This is an important message, especially to students of politics, public policy, institutions, economics and public administration.

The signal is that in many countries King wouldn’t have got a look in, but in Aotearoa he believes he could rise through merit and contribution.

Data and Delivery Are Now Central to Policy Performance

King gave serious weight to the rise of data capability inside DPMC.

The Delivery Unit is being positioned to track government targets and performance with integrity and realism.

This isn’t just technocracy. It’s a reckoning: if the public service wants to be taken seriously, it needs to show outcomes.

If you have followed my work on why performance matters, you will know this rings true. A performance story is key to both politicians having something to say to the electorate as well as public institutions maintaining the trust and confidence of New Zealanders.

King confirmed that performance isn’t a side hustle: it’s now central to the public sector’s licence to operate. One word: “Yah!”.

The signal is you can only manage what you measure. And measurement now matters more than ever.

The Centre Must Stay Curious: He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata

Perhaps the most heartfelt thread in the kōrero was King’s belief in the relevance of Aotearoa New Zealand and its people.

He urged the public service to be open to global ideas (from Denmark to Singapore), but always rooted in the human side of public sector governance: i.e., real people doing real mahi.

He acknowledged the hard grind of ministers and the emotional toll of public work, without losing sight of the privilege it is to serve.

The signal is we’ve got to stay curious as a country, and that sits with all of us.

We are extraordinarily lucky in Aotearoa.

Few countries offer this kind of open access to their most senior officials and ministers. In many jurisdictions, public servants of this calibre are remote, heavily scripted, or completely hidden from view.

Here, in this webinar series, we get to hear directly from those at the centre of government: unfiltered, thoughtful and refreshingly candid.