Many in the Pacific community will be curious about the Government’s Budget announcements – Secretary for Pacific Peoples, Gerardine Clifford-Lidstone provides an update on changes at the Ministry for Pacific Peoples.
“This year the focus for many government agencies, including the Ministry for Pacific Peoples, was to identify savings to contribute to the Government’s Budget priorities,” says Gerardine.
“I can confirm that through changes to our structure, the Ministry has been able to achieve savings with very little impact on funding for programmes in the community over the next year.
"While we are maintaining programmes, it does mean a reduction in roles at the Ministry – from 1 July, we are reducing from 156 FTE positions (36 of which are vacant), down to a total of 99.
“Despite our reduction in size, we are deeply committed to championing the voices of Pacific communities within government policy and this work will very much continue to be an important part of the Ministry’s role.
“We’ll also continue to remain closely connected to Pacific communities throughout New Zealand with a number of regional engagement roles in our new structure, including support for language weeks.
“Alongside this, we’re working closely with the Minister for Pacific Peoples on initiatives in the priority areas of housing, economic development, education and employment, and health.
“I thank Pacific communities for their patience while we manage this period of change – malo lava le onasa’i ma le fa’amalosi.
“We look forward to planning engagements with Pacific communities on our priority areas of work, once our new structure is in place,” says Gerardine.