University rehires some support staff

THE University of Otago has confirmed it is rehiring some support staff who took redundancy, as two senior academics and the Tertiary Education Union slam the way its support services review has been carried out.

An anonymous letter to the Otago Daily Times suggested some staff were being taken on again due to struggles adjusting to the new system.

A university spokeswoman confirmed four of the 179 staff who had taken redundancy since the review began at the end of 2015 had been employed in new, permanent positions.

‘‘An additional 17 staff have been employed on a shortterm basis as casual and fixedterm staff to provide additional support during the transition period of the restructure.

‘‘The [support services review] steering group continues to support additional resourcing to ensure service to students and staff is maintained.’’

Since the review began in late 2015, 166 people have taken voluntary redundancy, and another 13 have been made redundant.

TEU Dunedin organiser Shaun Scott said rehiring of staff into permament roles ‘‘seems to indicate some degree of poor planning around the SSR (support services review)’’.

Had the restructuring happened in a more straightforward manner, the opportunity to be redeployed ‘‘could have avoided the need to pay redundancy’’, he said.

University chief operating officer Stephen Willis said the university had been clear from the start the process would be challenging.

‘‘We are grateful for the patience and continued commitment from staff as we work through these changes together. It is important to remember that the changes outlined in the SSR business case were the result of a plan extending out to 2022.’’

The review affects IT, finance, administration, marketing and human resources staff.

Under the new system, staff providing support to academics are embedded in departments, but managed by a shared services division.

When contacted yesterday, faculty of law lecturer and former dean Prof Mark Henaghan, who is leaving to take up a position at the University of Auckland, said some upheaval was inevitable when a system changed.

NEW Zealand should be confident it can stand up to intimidation from China without worrying the superpower will cut economic ties, a University of Otago political specialist says.

After a mechanic found University of Canterbury China expert Prof AnneMarie Brady’s tyres were tampered with, Prof Robert Patman from Otago was one of 29 academics to sign an open letter to the Government on Monday that called for more to be done to protect her.

The incident was the latest in a series of events to happen to Prof Brady, including a breakin at her home when laptops and phones were taken, and breakins at her office.

Police and the New Zealand Security and Intelligence Service have spent nine months investigating the breakins.

All happened after the publication last September of her ‘‘Magic Weapons’’ paper, looking at China’s political influence in New Zealand.

There was ‘‘no need for New Zealand to sacrifice its own interests and values’’ to gain economic or political favour from China, Prof Patman said yesterday.

He said it would be ‘‘surprising’’ if China did not try to exert its influence.

‘‘But China is a oneparty state and New Zealand is a liberal democracy.

‘‘There are fundamental political differences between the two states, and burgeoning economic ties should not blur those differences. If China believes that states with different political systems should engage in economic cooperation, it should have no problem with maintaining that arrangement.’’

Earlier this year it was revealed Southland Mayor Gary Tong was in China on an allexpenses paid trip funded by businessman Yikun Zhang, the millionaire at the centre of a National Party donation scandal. Several councillors contacted by the Otago Daily Times were aware he was in China, but had never heard of Mr Zhang.

Prof Patman said allexpensespaid trips ‘‘may sometimes generate mutuallybeneficial links’’, but it was important for publiclyelected officials to be completely transparent when accepting them.