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Corrections Minister Judith Collins is maintaining the pressure on Corrections Department boss Barry Matthews.
It follows the release of a State Services Commission report which has found it would be unjustified for Matthews to be dismissed.
He was in the firing line over the department's handling of the murderous spree of Graham Burton in January last year, showing a series of failures.
But the Corrections Minister is still failing to express confidence in her CEO.
Collins says she must accept the Commissioner's findings, but is sending a clear signal she will be watching the department closely to ensure it restores public confidence in its abilities.
She says she expects Matthews to work hard to gain that confidence and says she will be holding him to very high standards.
"I have confidence that Mr Matthews understands that public safety is the number one issue for Corrections and that he is working on building a culture of excellence accountability and professionalism," she says.
Collins came under fire for effectively ruling out working with Matthews last month, ahead of the report.
But Prime Minister John Key says she's handled the situation well and is standing by his Corrections Minister.
He says the Minister is rightfully demanding a high level of accountability for public safety and it's important that test is met.
However the Labour party think otherwise.
"I think it shows arrogance, I think it shows naivety and inexperience," says Labour leader Phil Goff.
Meanwhile, Matthews is welcoming the release of the report.
"The report is a very fair one as I expected," says Matthews. "It accurately summarises the facts and sets out clear expectations on what I need to do to improve the Department's performance. I intend to act on these as a matter of urgency."
Matthews says he acknowledges the importance of regaining the Minister's confidence the public's trust in the Department.
"I remain committed to improving public safety. It is what I came into the Department to do. SSC's report showed a number of improvements have already been made to the department's performance. However, it is a work in progress and clearly more needs to be done," he says.
Add a Comment:
Post new commentGB said on 2009-02-21 @ 00:05 NZDT: Report abusive post
Congratulations Paul Henry great interview.. You asked the hard questions that Barry Mathews didn't want to answer. Yes he should resign immediately . His incompetence has cost at least 2 lives.
evenhanded said on 2009-02-20 @ 21:13 NZDT: Report abusive post
After that interview TVNZ should be demanding Paul Henrys resignation by Friday Midnight. Henry is so obviously totally biased that a full and frank discussion is impossible. Words like arrogant and in love with his own pathetic legend come readily to mind!
denizen said on 2009-02-20 @ 19:29 NZDT: Report abusive post
I thought Paul Henry's behaviour in that interview was appalling. All he has to do is chip away at people wear a naff suit and say "arse" alot. He didn't let Matthews finish any answers and basically demanded his resignation. If he didn't want to discuss anything then why bother getting him on the show. Guess that's what you'd expect from the National member for TVNZ.
Chaffe said on 2009-02-20 @ 18:46 NZDT: Report abusive post
No, he shouldn't. For far too long there has been a lack of accountability within the public service. People I know who work there talk of a system where incentives to perform are minimal, and substandard performance is tolerated, and now is, unfortunately, endemic. If departments have a track record of failure and neglignece it should be common sense that those in senior management are replaced. Efficiency and common sense must prevail over appeasement and neglilgence.