Foreword
We are driving through a time of change for the Ministry. Our first Statement of Intent is a useful indication of where we are now and where we are going.
The Ministry was established more than 16 years ago. The world has changed since then: local government and other parts of central government now have environment and sustainable development as parts of their key objectives and core competencies. So we are changing both what we do and how we do it. This is consistent with the evolution of the role of government as a whole, and the evolution of the environment function in particular. Now, in April, we are well advanced in making changes. We should be there by 1 July 2003.
Our primary intent will be to provide leadership in environment where leadership from central government is appropriate. In one sense leadership will mean working across government, either central or local, at a senior level to promote effective performance – good governance if you like. In another sense, leadership means taking a leading role on today’s issues of national importance: sustainable development, climate change, oceans policy, etc – issues consistent with key government goals.
In parallel with our efforts on leadership, we intend to work on partnerships with many who share the environment field. To us, partnership means doing things for others while they do things for us. We see that big progress is possible through partnership at a senior level across fields like environment standards, air quality, water management, waste management, sustainable industry, contaminated sites, and so on.
Consistent with our expectations that we will deliver a good environment through good governance, we will accept accountability for fixing things that are broken. There will not be the appearance or the actuality of good governance until some issues are fixed: process issues like delays under the Resource Management Act; complexities under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act; obvious environmental problems like the orphan contaminated site at Mapua, abandoned wastes at Bluff, or wilding pines at Mid Dome; or persistent issues like the interaction of farming with water quality. We intend to work with others to deliver such ‘fixing’.
In order to deliver on our intent, we are changing the way we operate. We are almost fully restructured towards a model that focuses on our relationships with others and influencing behaviour. We are attracting exciting staff at a senior level. We are embarking on ambitious training and development schemes, run by us, for all of us. The world of environment changes rapidly, and the issues of tomorrow will not be the issues of today. Hence a key part of our targets will be to develop in our people the leadership and partnership skills to deliver.
We look forward to the coming year.
Barry Carbon
Chief Executive
