Super Ministry will become a black hole

The so-called Super Ministry looks set to become a “black hole” that marks the point of no return for public service agencies like the Department of Building and Housing (DBH), says Labour’s Building and Construction spokesperson Raymond Huo.

“Budget documents reveal that Vote Economic Development has been slashed by $130 million, meaning that $90 million has been cut from the new Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MoBIE) before it has even been formed.

From 1 July MoBIE will absorb the Ministry of Economic Development, Department of Labour, Ministry of Science and Innovation, and the DBH.

“It was only two years ago that the Ministry of Science and Innovation was formed,” Raymond Huo said.

“Worse still, it was only last year that the DBH took over social housing policy.

“Transferring social housing policy from the Housing New Zealand Corporation to the DBH, and now removing it from the DBH to transfer it to MoBIE is just one more example of National’s expensive and pointless re-shuffling.

“One also has to question how a Government can justify the downgrading of the DBH when its own royal commission into the Canterbury earthquake will not report back fully until the end of this year.

“At a time when the building industry is under huge pressure - with the Christchurch rebuild, repair of leaky homes and a looming skills shortage - the Government is being almost wilfully idle.

“‘Super’ Minister Steven Joyce and Building and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson might be waiting to see how their new roles pan out. Kiwis, however, want to see some action,” said Raymond Huo.