DOC rangers next to go?

[wayno]

Rangers could lose their jobs as the Department of Conservation prepares to brief staff on the latest round of restructuring.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/bu ... next-to-go

[Hallu]

I'm not sure how they can justify those budget cuts when tourism is so popular in New Zealand... It's not like you guys can claim you have mining above tourism like Australia... Rangers are needed to survey the tracks, the hikers, to monitor wildlife, plants, etc... With the number of hikers increasing, cutting jobs is the last thing to do...

[wayno]

the govt took 50 million off the DOCs annual budget and told them to fill the gap by getting business alongside them.
they tried doing that but obviously havent been able to recover the amount the govt took off their budget. This despite already having made a hundred staff redundant in a previous round of staff rationalisation that avoided impacting front line staff.
hopefully most of the redundancies will be doc staff who roam the lesser huts collecting hut fees. they often don't serve much other purpose at doc...

[Hallu]

Well I was surprised to see no park fees in NZ parks, and yet very well maintained tracks. I guess so far hut fees and govt funding have been enough, but I wouldn't have been shocked if I had to pay about 10 $ per park, or to buy a general park pass, as in Tasmania. Parks are free in Victoria too, but are nowhere near this level of maintenance. Signage is always minimal, when not absent or rotten on the ground, and track repairs are really slow.

[wayno]

its the law in nz to allow free access in the parks.

[Strider]

Well I was surprised to see no park fees in NZ parks, and yet very well maintained tracks. I guess so far hut fees and govt funding have been enough, but I wouldn't have been shocked if I had to pay about 10 $ per park, or to buy a general park pass, as in Tasmania. Parks are free in Victoria too, but are nowhere near this level of maintenance. Signage is always minimal, when not absent or rotten on the ground, and track repairs are really slow.

Environment is NZ's biggest tourism draw card - they can't afford not to significantly invest in parks.

[wayno]

the national govt only cares about where the money comes in, back country infrastructure be damned if need be, they arent going to fund it any more than they have to... they allocated 50 million for cycleways possibly by taking it off doc...
te araroa received 5 million in funding, not nearly enough to maintain the 3000km of track adequately, the cycle ways are a fraction of the distance of te araroa, the otago rail trail was a proven money maker for the local economy, so the govt threw their money at that... meanwhile doc are giving provisional approval for forest to be cleared for a monorail running for miles . and a bus tunnel between the dart and hollyford rivers in fiordland.

[wayno]

http://www.wildernessmag.co.nz/view/pag ... insulting/

The following letter was addressed to Wilderness magazine as well as Prime Minister John Key, Conservation Minister Nick Smith, Labour leader David Shearer, Labour's conservation spokesperson Ruth Dyson, Green party leaders Russel Norman and Metiria Turei, Greens conservation spokesperson Eugenie Sage and Forest & Bird.

The Right Honourable John Key Prime Minister, Madams and Sirs,

'My husband is a hero to our three children. Last week I had to tell them that the Government has made a big mistake. I had to tell them that the boss of the Department of Conservation has told Dad that they don’t need him to work for them any more.

[Lindsay]

Excellent letter. A pity that a few politicians can't be disposed of instead of people who actually do things.

[wayno]

hopefully at the next election there will be a change in govt, and they'll redress the balance, at present each taxpayer on average only has to pay $35 a year towards conservation, its pretty miserly behaviour doc have to look after a third of nz's land area and try and protect the native species that get decimated by introduced predators.
thousands of jobs have disappeared under the current regime... 3000 look to go at the invercargill aluminium smelter and supporting companies

[roysta]

hopefully at the next election there will be a change in govt, and they'll redress the balance

For the people who didn't already know, Helen Clark was pretty good for the NZ environment.

[Strider]

For the people who didn't already know, Helen Clark was pretty good for the NZ environment.

I agree. He did a good job.

[wayno]

such cynicism in one so young...

[roysta]

Yeah I know she would appear as a bloke, but the guy who currently runs the show is an *&%$#! who poses as a bloke.

[wayno]

key was a hatchet man at meril lynch, restructured the london office, he earned the nickname "smiling assassin"

[wayno]

latest analysis of DOC restructure
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/8 ... udget-cuts

[wayno]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8592036 ... OC-for-SSC

Department of Conservation boss Al Morrison has been appointed to a top job at the State Services Commission.
Deputy State Services Commissioner Sandi Beatie announced the appointment this afternoon.
Morrison will take up the newly create role of Deputy Commissioner Corporate Centre where he will be charged with increasing the pace of the change towards better public services.
It involved working closely with State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie, Treasury Secretary Gabriel Makhoulf and Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet boss Andrew Kibblewhite.
"This will be a challenging role and is a vital part of the leadership of Better Public Services," Beatie said.
"Mr Morrison brings outstanding experience at leading and implementing major change and is an excellent communicator which will be of great benefit in his work across the State sector."
He takes up the role in September.
As DOC chief executive Morrison has overseen several round of job cuts, the most recent being earlier this year.

[Onestepmore]

Excellent letter, thanks for posting Wayno

[wayno]

and now the govt are putting money back into the budget and decide they need 60 more positions after saying they had to cut140....
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1304/S ... n-work.htm