Lesley Soper is the Labour candidate for Invercargill
This week it was announced that the Department of Conservation (DOC) is to cut 96 jobs around the country from 4 regional centres. 18 jobs will go from the Invercargill office, leaving only 20 of the 38 existing service positions in place. All staff in service positions will have to reapply for their jobs.
The cuts follow the National Government 2009 cut to DOC’s Budget of $54million over 4 years, which means there are probably more to come in the next stage of the ‘Review’ for efficiency and effectiveness.
Once again the regions suffer, with Northland; Tongariro/Whanganui/Taranaki; and Nelson/Marlborough also to suffer job cuts. Valuable locals, contributing to their communities economically and socially, with institutional loyalty, knowledge and years of long service are forced into job scrambles; onto the dole queue; overseas; or into short-term and insecure contract work. The regional economies and communities lose out; real people doing valuable jobs lose out; and DOC is expected to do more with less.
Southland has a significant amount of conservation land, and DOC protects places and species that Southlanders value. Jobs to go include science, technical, communications, planning and legal, but for the present no ranger positions. So jobs that allow good conservation outcomes to be achieved and rangers to be rangers go. Cut to the bone and only the skeleton remains.
Is 19 or 20 the new preferred size du jour for public service Regional offices? How long before ‘efficiences of scale’ mean the size du jour is in single figures?
Again, local public service cuts that no-one can feel comfortable about. Silence from local National MP’s on any reasons why.
Man, that sucks
Now DOC will struggle to do its job properly! 
!
Govt needs to work out that it’s cheaper to have people employed and engaged in work than on the dole with idle hands. Cutting down hours may be necessary but letting people go from Government-funded jobs to Government-funded ‘looking for a job’ is really laughable.
Problem is that there is no unlimited pool of money. Yes the DoC workers do a good job – but paid from our taxes, as as you are all aware Cullen spent the lot and then with earthquakes and recessions, we are running at an $18b deficit – none of which is the making of the Current National Government. So job losses are regretable – but utimately necessary as there are cuts that must be made.
Which is weird. The reason is because Labour bloated the bureaucracy over nine years; spent like drunken sailors from 2004-2008; and led this country into recession before any other.
That’s why we are now paying the price.
Ah Monty – on message as always. It’s the earthquakes and recessions…
But don’t National have some control over tax breaks for the rich? Please explain how offering substantial tax relief to the highest earners while sacking DOC workers while running an $18bn deficit is not the making of the “Current National Government”.
Spud what makes you think DOC currently do the job properly, I agree with Nick in that DOC has become bloated especially during the previous govts time and mostly at the the top.
What is happening is the cuts are being made by the very people who need to be cut and they are taking the easiest targets, the bottom of the tree.
Sadly the services DOC provide will suffer as the result of the axe falling on the bottom of the tree, perhaps it’s time for a double sided axe and get some cuts on the upstroke as well.
Monty
Such a short memory and selective at that.
Who warned National about the folly of tax cuts – Cullen
Who set up Kiwisaver – Cullen
Who finally had to give into the greed of rightwing clamour for tax relief – Cullen with a fresh round of warnings about the folly of any further tax relieve.
Who ignored that sound advise and gave billions away to their rich mates – Key.
Who told lies about the money for rich mates tax cut being fiscally neutral – Key
Who follows the Neo Con path of destruction for the sole benefit of a select tiny rich group, mainly transnationals, who control the press and minds of the less nimble – Key
Who plays good cop to the public with a Brash, various puppet advisory groups puppeting adversity extreme – Key
Roger Douglas must be a Hero for some who never carry responsibility for the nation but are willing to actively support job cuts. Pathetic class discrimination also proven to construct longer term harm to the economy.
The myth that there is ” a limited pool of money ” is typical of limited thinking.
The nature of money allows banks and “investors” to proliferate unearned profits causing inflation to devalue all our work and accumulated life support systems.
The fiat system is the greatest parasite in our midst and money is not limited at all.
Constriction of supply is controlled largely by design often not for public good but for wide scale plundering of community resource.
Cutting jobs is a crazy short term recipe for long term shift of wealth to the top small group. No shortage of money there but an excess is disgusting proportion with no responsibility to those who have provided that wealth – the largest part of the community with little benefit or justice.
If real productivity is sought then the Co-operative model has a strong record with a side benefit of community development and local control. The human condition is vastly improved.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ideas/audio/2358378/ideas-the-cooperative-economy
Transnational corporation facilitate the opposite with bleeding of local resources and migration of community wealth to offshore conglomerates.
An increasing proportion money feed offshore profit.
The social fabric and community infrastructure suffer and losses there compound.
But Monty your party said int he budget 150,000 will be magically created soon. You forgot that we have to borrow to fund the tax cuts. Funny that a PM who is Minister for Tourism is happy to see the clean green image he tried to defend on hardtalk eroded. Still, as long as Warner Bros and their fantasy world are helped to survive we can show our children and their children pretend and imaginary flora and fauna.
John W I think you just made Monty’s head explode. I’ve been trying for months to get him to back his rhetoric with actually policy promised by Nats in 2008 and the proven implementation and success since… no luck so far
@Bored – An understaffed DOC bad
!
@Tracey – poor Monty, bits of head strewn everywhere and no one around wants to clean up the blood!
hey spud!!!