Sage Eugenie: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSage Eugenie: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 11 April 2013. Volume:689;Page:9293. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]7.EUGENIE SAGE (Green) to theMinister of Conservation: Will he support “Love DOC Day” by increasing the funding for the department so it can cancel the proposed staffing cuts?Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister of Conservation): Department of Conservation staff are the most committed and dedicated public servants I have worked with in any of my nine ministerial roles and I welcome any public recognition of their work. The Department of Conservation’s budget increased by 107 percent in cash terms or 62 percent in real terms prior to the global financial crisis. I am quite confident that the department can continue to do its important work with the very modest 3 percent reduction as its contribution towards this Government balancing the books.Eugenie Sage: When the Public Service Association which represents 1400 Department of Conservation staff said today that the department cannot make the required savings without sacrificing front-line jobs why is he so confident that conservation work will not suffer?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: In the days when money grew on trees the Department of Conservation’s budget increased by more than double. That is why our country when we came to Government faced ever-increasing deficits for the next 10 years. The reason I have confidence is that if I compare with a bit over a decade ago in real terms I have $120 million more per year than what I had in the late 1990s I have over 200 staff more than what was there in that time and that gives me great confidence that the Department of Conservation and its staff are able to do the important work in conservation.Eugenie Sage: When nearly a quarter of the conservation estate—some 1.9 million hectares—is on the West Coast how can he be confident that conservation work will be done well there when the West Coast region suffers the most from these cuts with the loss of 25 staff?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: The West Coast does have a large conservation estate and a very committed staff but I am—Hon Damien O’Connor: Why did you cut the staff?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: The member who interjects claimed that the staff numbers in Tākaka were being reduced to one. He was out by a factor of 16. I am quite confident the West Coast like other areas of New Zealand where I note every single one of the service centres is being maintained will be able to continue to do its work.Eugenie Sage: Is he confident that reducing staff numbers on the West Coast to levels below that at the time of the Cave Creek platform collapse is a good idea when the report of the commission of inquiry in 1995 found that: “The Department of Conservation has been underfunded from the outset with consequent difficulty in carrying out its statutory functions and duties;”?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: I became the Minister of Conservation after the Cave Creek tragedy. The issue was not a lack of money. That should never be an excuse for any part of the Public Service’s buildings or structures that are unsafe. So I do not accept and I think the member is incorrect in saying that somehow it is OK for public sector departments to do things that are unsafe because their budgets might not be what they wish for.Eugenie Sage: When the Department of Conservation’s current structure was established in response to the findings of the Cave Creek commission of inquiry how can he be confident that there will be adequate accountability in the new dual structure which splits the department into a partnership arm and a services arm and has staff in one office reporting to different managers in different locations?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: The exact structure of the department is a decision for the Director-General of Conservation Mr Al Morrison. But what he is absolutely correct about is that the department needs to do a better job of partnering with iwi and we just need to look at the Treaty settlement legislation that my colleague Chris Finlayson is bringing through the Parliament and areas like Tūhoe and the national park and the changes there as well as the increased involvement of business in conservation and community groups to see that this new structure makes great sense in the forward-looking approach we are taking to conservation management.