Social Services Minister Trevor Mallard says that the new ministry will be the government's primary adviser on "strategic and cross-sectoral social policy" as well as continuing to deliver income support and other social services to the community. Mallard: "The merger will not impact on other agencies in the short term. Even for MSP and DWI, it will be a relatively small change. We will not be re-advertising everyone's jobs and spending millions on re-branding. What we are chasing is quality advice and an approach to social delivery informed by social development."

Sue Bradford of the Green Party agrees. She says it makes no sense for the Government to decide on and announce a radical restructuring to create a new ministry and in the same announcement to say that terms of reference are starting to be developed to review the public service. Bradford: "It seems as though the Government have put the cart before the horse in a major way. They have announced their plans and are now doing the review after the event ..."

Sowry: "This merger is not about better social policy it is all about avoiding expensive employment proceedings against an individual. It is an expensive way to try and avoid Employment Court action — we know Social Services and Employment Minister Steve Maharey is in trouble with his comments over Work and Income chief executive Christine Rankin which may well lead to a substantial payout ... It is wrong to build a policy around one person rather than tailor it to the thousands of people it will affect."

Sources — Press Release NZ Government 11 April 2001 "Cabinet decision on Ministry of Social Development" and ""Maharey: Proposal to Refocus Key Social Service Departments And Ministries Timely"; Press Release National Party Roger Sowry 11 April 2001 "Govt Dodges Rankin in Social Services Merger"; Press Release Green Party Sue Bradford 11 April 2001 "Process All Wrong for New Super Ministry"; Press Release ACT Party Muriel Newman "Government Spin Reaches New Heights"

" This decision is part of a wider review of the effectiveness and efficiency of structures within the public service. It is about getting better alignment between the policy and operational arms, it is about a focus on outcomes, and it is about a strategic and whole of government approach.
" I am committed to a much enhanced strategic social policy function with a whole of government role. There are a number of structural and organisational possibilities that need to be considered on how the vital strategic social policy function sits within the new arrangements.
" Both the Department of Work and Income and the Ministry of Social Policy have come along way over the past 12 months. This announcement should be seen as an opportunity to build on those gains..."
— Steve Maharey, Social Services and Employment Minister

"Trevor Mallard says that the new Ministry will be able to develop cross sectoral policy advice, but that is nonsense. If that is the case why has this Government shifted the Community Employment Group from Winz to the Department of Labour, and moved Housing policy out of the Ministry of Social Policy into the Ministry of Housing?"
— Roger Sowry, National Party State Services spokesman

" The Greens are really concerned about yet another major restructuring of the provider of welfare services to New Zealanders. For a department that has been turned upside down a number of times over the last 16 years, this will result in a great deal more uncertainty for both employees and beneficiaries ..."
— Sue Bradford, Green Party Social Services Spokesperson

" This merger is nothing more than a snow-job to disguise future personal grievance claims caused by the injudicious comments of the minister himself. A potentially huge claim has been signalled for a long time. To get themselves out of a humiliating situation, the Government has unilaterally decided on a merger as a `quick-fix'. They are bypassing consultation, costings, and all the normal processes which mark public sector restructuring.
" Five thousand Winz staff, and all of the Ministry employees, must be reeling from this decision. The Government has acted deceitfully and with complete disregard for procedure or commonsense. We have seen situations where the Government has spent millions on consultations - the F16 purchases, the dairy company merger, MyBank — only to then ignore that advice. Now they have reached a stage where they skip consultation altogether."
— Muriel Newman, ACT Social Welfare Spokesman

The Strategic Plan outlines how the Mayors will support each other to:
— take leadership locally on employment issues
— provide advocacy on nation-wide employment policies and programmes in the light of local experience
— build stronger relationships between local and central government agencies, and
— promote leadership on employment goals as an issue for the upcoming local government elections.

Copies of the "Strategy 2001-2002" document are available on the Mayors Taskforce website at www.jobsletter.org.nz/mtfjobs.htm

— The Mayors who attended the Manukau meeting included Garry Moore (Christchurch), Jenny Brash (Porirua), Derek Fox (Wairoa), Yvonne Sharp (Far North), Pat O'Dea (Buller), Tim Shadbolt (Invercargill), Mary Ogg (Gore), Maureen Reynolds (Tararua), and Chas Poynter (Wanganui).

Geoff Chapple, Executive Officer of the Te Araroa Trust, was a speaker at the Mayors meeting in Manukau City. He points out that Te Araroa will not be a wilderness trail. At the end of most nights, walkers will be able to rest up in local communities, visit craft shops and historical sites, eat at restaurants and stay at motels/hotels and bed-and-breakfasts. This obviously stimulates local economies.

Last year, on a Churchill Fellowhip, Chapple undertook long trails operating in the USA, Canada and the UK. In Britain, the Countryside Agency has surveyed the economic spin-offs from visiting walkers to the "Offa's Dyke" Path in Wales. The agency calculated that, in the 1994-5 year, walkers on the path spent £2 million in the local economy. This was more than £20 for every £1 spent on the management of the trail.

Using research previously carried out on the "Pennine Way" in North England, which calculated that one job was created for every £14,000 of visitor spend, the survey concluded that the Offa's Dyke path sustains 153 jobs within the path corridor area.

Chapple: "Council support for these walkway projects is critical to opening up its local economic potential. Overseas research is showing us that we don't as easily get the corporate support for the long trails until we get the council backing. In terms of stimulating your local economies, the council contribution to the walkways has a definite multiplier effect..."

— Geoff Chapple is also a prominent NZ journalist and author, and a commentary on his own walk down the North Island Te Araroa Pathway can be read at www.teararoa.org.nz

Sources — Geoff Chapple speech to the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs Manukau City 29 March 2001; "Offa's Dyke Path National trail User Survey 1994-95" (The Countryside Commission); "Long Trails — origins, governance, and volunteer support in the USA, Canada and UK" by Geoff Chapple (based on a Churchill Fellowship of 2000)

It would cost $220 million for the government to implement all of the report's recommendations, which include increasing staff numbers in smaller primary schools and a reduction of staff-student rations in Maori immersion schools and bilingual classes.

Education Minister Trevor Mallard acknowledges that "teachers have made it pretty clear to me that workload is a big issue for them ...", but he says that the speed at which any recommendations in the Staffing report are implemented would depend on the latest round of Post Primary Teacher Association (PPTA) pay negotiations.

Sources — New Zealand Herald 14 March 2001 "3500 more techers needed" by Libby Middlebrook and Audrey Young; New Zealand Herald 28 March 2001 "School year began with 400 teachers short" by Rebecca Walsh