The National Party would set up a razor gang of Cabinet Ministers to trim what it says is wasteful spending from the public service, if it becomes the Government.
It says a new committee would oversee a review of the state sector to ensure Government spending is of high value.
Party leader John Key, outlining National's plans to cap the core bureaucracy, says National would require department chief executives to undertake a line by line review of their expenditure with the aim of identifying areas where savings could be made.
He says the new Cabinet Expenditure Control Committee would include deputy leader Bill English, and could include himself.
"The first thing you will be able to judge us by is that there will be no single person over and above the core bureaucracy of 36, 000.
"Secondly, judge me on the productivity and performance of this country. I think you can see us going out there and making conscious decisions: money into front-line services, money into things that directly affect the household," Mr Key told media at a Dunedin cafe.
