Damien O’Connor
West Coast/Tasman based MP

17 December 2010
Media Statement

West Coast deserves better from the Government

The announcement that the Government will make IRD workers in Greymouth redundant is kicking a region when it’s down, says West Coast/Tasman based MP Damien O’Connor.

“It is simply not good enough for Revenue Minister Peter Dunne to claim he is providing clarity to workers at IRD in Greymouth by letting them know a week before Christmas they are out of a job,” Damien O’Connor said.

“That is a totally ignorant and uncaring statement for a Government Minister to make.

“The West Coast is already reeling from the Pike River disaster and the Government promised economic help. But that promise is clearly empty when just a few days after the Prime Minister announces help, he allows one of his Ministers to make people in the region redundant.

“While IRD may not be one of the most popular Government agencies it provides a vital service and I am deeply disappointed that the Greymouth office is to be downgraded.

“The people who are losing their jobs in Greymouth aren’t IRD bureaucrats. They are West Coasters who support local businesses and the loss of their jobs will be felt keenly by a region already facing a bleak Christmas,” Damien O’Connor said.

ENDS

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