Politicians have clashed on their plans for public servants, at a Victoria University debate

National Leader Chris Luxon's previously noted some of the 14-thousand new public service jobs under Labour, could go.

National's Wellington Central candidate Scott Sheeran says shrinking the public service doesn't have to mean people get axed from their jobs.

He says there's a lot of vacant jobs and it can be dealt with through attrition.

Public Service Minister and Labour MP Andrew Little says eradicating Mycoplasma Bovis wouldn't have happened with a stretched workforce.

He says it required leaders, programme managers, and people out in the field.