More than 300 jobs are set to go at the Ministry for the Environment, which would see its headcount cut by nearly a third.
Now that the government’s Budget has been confirmed, more agencies are set to reveal how they plan to slash costs as directed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis.
On Wednesday, the ministry said it was proposing to cut 303 full time jobs by July next year – reducing its headcount from 993 to 690.
About 150 fixed term contracts would end at the end of October.
There would also be voluntary and proposed redundancies of permanent employees – and some will be delayed until the end of June next year.
Forty-five people had already accepted voluntary redundancy after the call was put out in April.
The ministry was inviting further expressions of interest throughout the consultation period – from now until 26 June.
“Prior to the change of government, after a period of rapid growth the ministry’s budget was on track to decline by 26 percent over the next four years as time limited funding for waste, water and resource management programmes came to an end,” chief executive James Palmer said.
That, combined with recent Budget decisions, meant baseline funding was on track to drop 39 percent by the 2027/28 financial year.
The ministry began preparing for that decline last year, by instituting a hiring freeze, employing a number of people on fixed term contracts, and changing its structure to reduce the number of senior managers, Palmer said.
“These steps have helped reduce the impact of the proposal on current permanent staff.
“Nevertheless, change like that proposed today will be hard on many of our people who have delivered high quality and specialised work, often at high pace, for both the current and previous governments – including through a challenging period of uncertainty about their own positions.”
The Budget revealed job cuts at the ministry will save $22 million by 2028, and by reducing funding for freshwater programmes the government would save more than $23m within the same timeframe.
Government ‘ turning a blind eye to our environmental challenges’
The union, Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi (PSA), said vital work combatting climate change, cleaning up rivers and safeguarding our biodiversity would be jeopardised by the cuts.
“In the face of climate change impacting communities, our freshwaters being degraded, and our unique biodiversity under threat like never before, the government is gutting the very agency on the frontline tackling these challenges,” the union’s national secretary Duane Leo said.
“New Zealand’s precious environment is core to who we are as a nation and how we are seen on the world stage. And it supports our economic prosperity – it’s not something any government should play fast and loose with, but that is precisely what this government is doing.
“It’s turning a blind eye to our environmental challenges and again ignoring the evidence of its own experts so it can fund tax cuts.
“The ministry advised its new minister that the environment was ‘under significant pressure’ and that effort was needed ‘if the prosperity and wellbeing of New Zealanders is to be maintained’.”
It said last week’s Budget slashed the ministry’s funding.