11759 (2026). Camilla Belich to the Minister of Conservation

11759 (2026). Camilla Belich to the Minister of Conservation: What specific roles, by title and unit, were disestablished at the Department of Conservation in the year to 31 December 2025, broken down by the date of disestablishment, any redundancy costs, and the number of functions that have since been transferred to another agency or contracted to external providers, if any?

Hon Tama Potaka: I am advised that the Department of Conservation’s human resource information and management systems use position creation and disestablishment for a wide range of reasons, including administrative changes and changes in delivery work focuses (for example from community ranger work to biodiversity ranger work) within districts or other units. Some positions were established because of management of change processes, including where an existing position was disestablished and replaced with a broader or revised role description, or multiple positions were consolidated into a single position, or vice versa. Accordingly, the creation or disestablishment of a position during the period may reflect structural change rather than workforce growth, and in some cases, there may be a net zero change in overall position numbers. Numbers of positions created or disestablished therefore are not the same as staff joining or leaving the Department. I refer the member to the attached list of permanent positions disestablished at the Department of Conservation in the 2025 calendar year, broken down by role, Business Group and disestablishment date. In 2025, 75 individuals exited the Department by reason of redundancy at a total cost of $3,650,373. The Department advises me that it is unable to provide information on the number of functions that have since been transferred to another agency or contracted to external providers, if any, as this information is not recorded within the Department’s human resource systems.