Ministers in hiding as job losses mount
Ruth Dyson
State Services Spokesperson
7 September 2011
Ministers in hiding as job losses mount
The National Government is forcing department heads to front on unpopular issues such as job losses while it hides in the background, Labour State Services spokesperson Ruth Dyson says.
“This week as a direct result of Government decisions DOC and IRD have announced that they are making over 250 people redundant,” Ruth Dyson said.
“But instead of the Ministers responsible for those departments fronting up to the public and explaining why it has thrown 250 people on to the dole queue, department heads made the announcements.
“It is appalling that with a stroke of a pen Ministers are putting hundreds of people around the country out of work, but are too gutless to front up to either the media or those people and explain their decisions.
“There is a clearly a strategy from National that if it’s bad news they should run and hide rather than face up to the public.
“Why aren’t the local National MPs in Rotorua, Napier, Nelson and Southland, where many of this week’s job losses are taking place standing up and fronting up to their communities?
“If Ministers are prepared to put hundreds of people out of work then they should have the courage to front up.
“Clearly National Government Ministers have taken the coward’s way out and are too scared to front their own decisions and explain job losses and cuts to frontline services.
“Perhaps the decision to hide is because they know they lied to the public when they said they would cap and not cut the public sector,” Ruth Dyson said.
ENDS