20 August 2003

Te Puni Kokiri Chief executive Leith Comer said today that work was being undertaken at the Ministry regarding how Te Puni Kokiri could improve its ability to accelerate Maori development by 'strengthening the regions'.

We have a project underway called Strengthening the Regions. This project considers how our regional offices work and what if any changes may be necessary to have our regional network work better to serve our Ministry's goal of accelerating Maori Development," said Mr Comer.

In responding to speculation regarding a pending restructure, Mr Comer said: "Yes we want to work as efficiently and effectively as possible, yes we want our regional offices to play a major role in the Ministry's work, and yes we are considering how best to acheive that."

He emphasised however, that consideration of the matter was still in its developmental stages. He said that consultants were reviewing the work TPK had done to date on the matter and at the end of that process and in conjunction with SSC findings (resulting from a separate review) TPK would be in a position to consider the best way forward later this year.

Mr Comer said that like most departments and ministries Te Puni Kokiri was constantly looking at ways to work better, but that he did not consider it appropriate to have such discussions in public. He said he wanted to ensure Te Puni Kokiri staff were informed every step of the way and said that staff would be fully consulted on any future proposals.

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