Photo: RNZ
Proposed job cuts at the Environmental Protection Authority continue the government's "war on nature", an environmental advocate says.
The EPA has proposed slashing 16 percent of its workforce, or 42 jobs - half of which were vacant.
Any proposed cuts at the EPA made no sense and carried risks for the environment, Environmental Defence Society chief executive Gary Taylor said.
"The EPA has suffered systemic and chronic underfunding for many years," he said.
"The EPA is our ... national environmental regulator, it has a number of really important jobs to do including running fast-track projects under the current law, which you would have thought was a priority for the government."
The news was "deeply disappointing", Taylor said.
It followed cuts to jobs and funding at the Department of Conservation, Ministry for the Environment, the Climate Change Commission, NIWA and GNS Science.
"It just seems to be yet another part of the government's war on nature, a misunderstanding of the importance of looking after our environment and monitoring it properly," he said.
EPA's budget woes
An independent report in 2022 revealed the EPA's dire financial situation, saying it was performing efficiently and effectively - but it needed more money and a bigger workforce with some areas "critically under pressure".
"Cutting back staffing and activities in order to manage within existing baseline funding would require restructuring and redundancy payments that the organisation cannot afford, and heighten delivery risks," the report by consultants Martin Jenkins said.
Following that report, the EPA received an additional $31 million over four years as part of Budget 2023 to meet cost pressures, the EPA told RNZ.
But it was just a third of what the Martin Jenkins report recommended it receive: $96.2m over the same time period.
A briefing to new Environment Minister Penny Simmonds in November last year stated the EPA's financial sustainability was its biggest risk, and called for an increased in baseline funding.
But "the EPA was not invited to participate in Budget 2024", it said.
"To support the government's priority of delivering public sector cost savings, we have committed to reduce our operating costs to 'break-even' and match the funding we receive."
Simmonds said the EPA was not subjected to a budget cut.
"It is being asked to break even after years of budget overruns," she said.
"The three core function units will not experience job losses. The job losses are occurring in the four non-core units."
That was incredibly difficult news for staff, she said.