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MNZ REORGANISATION RAISES ISSUES BY R LEA CLOUGH T he editorial in the July/August issue of Professional Skipper raised some controversial stuff, particularly in respect to Maritime New Zealand. It reminded me of a framed quote I saw in the newly unified Ministry of Defence in 1970: "We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganised. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganising; and what a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralisation." Supposedly by Petronius Arbiter 66AD – actually by Charlton Ogburn in 1957, but still quite relevant. In recent years, Maritime Division of Ministry of Transport changed to Maritime Safety Authority and then to Maritime New Zealand. All of these transformations no doubt incurred expenses with new signage, new logo, new letterheads and so on. One benefit for the organisation involved was the ability to disavow anything that occurred under the previous incarnation. When I criticised an error riddled report on the grounding of Oyang 77 (a Korean trawler – what a surprise) which came out under the name of the "Maritme" Division (yes, they couldn't even spell their own name), MSA deftly batted the complaint away with the response that it was not their report. End of discussion. When I wrote the article on the Federation Conference that appeared in the previous issue of Professional Skipper, I kept it neutral, recording and condensing what was said, without adding any of my input. I conveyed little of the feeling of the meeting, but the editor of this publication has rightly picked up on developing concerns from comment by others who were at the conference. Yes, members' attitudes range from uneasy to hostile over the direction in which they are being taken by Maritime New Zealand. Many do not have the confidence or the presence of mind to get up and say something at such a gathering. The first time I did so, at the age of 43, it was with great trepidation. For one thing, the change to surveyors being MNZ employees or contractors under Maritime Operator Safety System, rather than SSMS company employees is clearly a reversion to the original set-up. The inference we draw is that SSMS V S VIP.S93 THOMSON TOWBOATS LTD 64 • Harbour, coast & ocean towage • Project cargoes • Barge hire • Tandem and multiple vessel tows • Dredge support • Salvage • Wreck removal • Pilot/crew transfer • Stores, fuel & fresh water delivery • Marine consultancy www.thomsontowboats.co.nz | P: 0274 961 440 Professional Skipper September/October 2013 was a failure (see the quote above). After the MNZ session, a delegate approached me to ask the simple, but obvious, question, "Why are fishing industry oil pollution levies going up because of the MV Rena grounding? Surely those extra costs should be borne by the sector responsible – foreign cargo vessels?" I am ashamed to say that I did not think of that at the time. I am asking it now. Perhaps MNZ will respond to this with the same alacrity as they have to my article. Perhaps they can display the same alacrity in responding to Kelvyn Leslie's complaints, made over two years ago, about their performance in respect to MV Jaguar. While I am on the same tack, let me say a few words about Ministry for Primary Industries. In my time, I have seen them change from MAF (Agriculture and Fisheries) to a stand-alone MinFish, then to the super-ministry MPI. Oddly, our relationship with some sectors actually improved – they passed operating the Quota Management System to the excellent FishServe, and our compliance officers on the Chatham Islands have managed to be zealous, pragmatic and popular. I do not blame MPI for the "Capricious and vindictive" were his words. A glance around the meeting revealed silent nods of assent meat export debacles either – from a talk with fish exporters, I know full well that dealing with Chinese bureaucracy is a fraught process. "There are rules, but you never know which rules are going to be applied." About a year ago, at an industry meeting, I heard a new PR employee of SEAFIC (now Sea Food New Zealand) explain his surprise at the attitude of the ministry to the industry it regulated. "Capricious and vindictive" were his words. A glance around the meeting revealed silent nods of assent – of course that is the way they are. The fishing industry puts up with it, as complaining will probably lead to worse treatment. As if to illustrate the point, at another meeting the next day a ministry delegate, newly drafted from Agriculture, I understand, showed little grasp of contentious topics and expressed himself inarticulately. I wrote to the then Minister (now Speaker – a post he seems to be filling with equal competence) to complain. I pointed out the inference we draw – that it did not matter that the official delegated to attend the meeting knew nothing and said nothing of use, because the ministry would not be doing anything with the outcome of the meeting. My complaint went nowhere. I have since been advised to cool it, for my own good. Let me end on a positive note. One speaker at the Federation Conference impressed us with his competent handling of a fraught, highly contentious and unpopular topic. Mark Geytenbeek came across as pragmatic and sensible when he reported on the experimental video-surveillance programme. www.skipper.co.nz