10 March 2009

Ideology Drives Cuts to Environment Ministry

Cuts at the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) are driven by ideology rather than budget necessity Green Party Co-Leader Russel Norman said today.

The Ministry is set to lose up to a quarter of its staff according to the Public Service Association which says an estimated 86 jobs are to be eliminated. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister John Key has confirmed that recycling and carbon reduction programmes are also to be axed.

"There's more and more evidence of an anti-environmental agenda from the new Government," Dr Norman said. "The Ministry for the Environment is being clinically ham-strung by the National-led Government."

The Ministry for the Environment has also stopped work on recycling and measures to make the public service carbon neutral, a move Dr Norman described as nonsensical: "The public sector should set an example for the private sector. Instead, National says the environment is not important in the face of a recession. This goes against the scientific and economic consensus of governments around the world as well as the United Nations.

"We are swimming against the tide claiming it's about saving money when the Government's actions will prove expensive in the long run," said Dr Norman. "Since these decisions defy reason, the only conclusion left is that they are driven by belief instead."

Environment Minister Nick Smith signalled cuts last month and blamed a budget shortfall although analysis showed the budget claims were misleading.

MfE's budget is set to drop from approximately $85 million this year to $65 million in 2009/2010 as a number of environmental initiatives end. The Tui mine clean up, for example, accounted for a one-off expense of $8 million in the 2008/2009 budget. The National-led Government has described the budget variation as a cut to baseline funding begun by Labour.

MfE Annual Report 2008 http://mfe.resultspage.com/search?p=UK&srid=S1%2d2&lbc=mfe&ts=c2&pw=budget%202008&pu=14693&uid=852689911&w=annual%20report%202008&rk=1

ENDS

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