David Clark
Economic Development Spokesperson

22 September 2015

Joyce’s invisible hand all over AgResearch bungle

The chaotic restructure at AgResearch has Steven Joyce’s invisible hand all over it, especially given he knows more about it than the staff at the institute, says Labour’s Economic Development spokesperson David Clark.

“Mr Joyce has admitted there will be significant job losses at AgResearch but none of the staff have been informed yet. The Board is in chaos because of a meddling minister.

“It’s clear Mr Joyce has been deeply involved in this. First there’s no viable business case but he is pushing ahead with the restructure regardless. As usual Steven Joyce is arrogantly riding roughshod over the process.

“Second, the 1990s management-speak ‘right-sizing’ – Mr Joyce’s favourite language – is being trotted out.

“But the most telling sign of the invisible hand of Steven Joyce is the shambolic, bungled process. It’s a debacle like the MoBIE spending blowouts, convention centre tender and the Chorus shemozzle.

“Mr Joyce is determined to make a sow’s ear out of a silk purse. He has to come clean on his involvement before the process becomes even more damaging.

“The job cuts to science staff would be a major blow to science in this country as many will go offshore. This will hurt innovation and development in our major industry, which will lead to a loss of export earnings,” says David Clark.

ENDS

© Scoop Media