29 September, 2004

No staff cuts says Fisheries Minister

There will not be one single less frontline fisheries officer as a result of current restructuring discussions says Fisheries Minister David Benson-Pope.

The Minister confirmed the Ministry of Fisheries (MFish) were discussing with staff options for centralising some compliance functions but this was about providing a more effective service – not cutting staff.

"These proposals are about getting more bang for our bucks," says Mr Benson-Pope. "We are going after poachers who we know are becoming more sophisticated and organised. To beat them we are going to have to be more sophisticated ourselves.

"These changes are intended to position MFish so that it has the capability and flexibility to deliver appropriate compliance services with improved accountability and transparency."

Mr Benson-Pope says it is mischievous for the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) to describe meetings they are having this Friday as "stop work meetings" when the Ministry of Fisheries had actively encouraged staff to meet and discuss the issues in this way. Staff are to be paid as normal to attend the meetings, as part of the consultation process.

Mr Benson-Pope also says there is no link between proposals to restructure MFish compliance services and contract negotiations with NUPE.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>