Three top officials leaving in Ministry of Transport restructure

Wednesday, 16 August 2017

Ministry of Transport chief executive Peter Mersi is expected to announce four new deputy chief executive roles soon, after three senior officials were made redundant.

Three of the most senior officials at the scandal-plagued Ministry of Transport have been made redundant.

The changes come just a fortnight after former chief executive Martin Matthews was forced to quit as auditor-general as a result of his handling of fraud allegations that led to former senior manager Joanne Harrison being jailed.

On Wednesday, the ministry denied the latest redundancies were related to the case.

In a statement, chief executive Peter Mersi said that, as part of an organisational review, three members of the senior leadership team would be leaving.

He did not name the trio. They are understood to be deputy chief executive Andrew Jackson, road and rail general manager Mike James, and sector performance manager Gareth Chaplin.

All three reported directly to Mersi. He said he expected to announce the creation of four new deputy chief executive roles in the coming days.

'The review considered both our current operating model, and the way we structure and organise ourselves to deliver,' Mersi said.

The ministry has been told to consider offering compensation to former staff who were made redundant after raising concerns about the activities of Harrison, who was jailed in February for stealing more than $725,000 over three years.

Senior officials at the ministry were given repeated warnings about Harrison's actions, with several of the staff who raised concerns about possible fraud later being made redundant.

At the start of August, Matthews, who was chief executive at the time of Harrison's offending, quit as auditor-general over his handling of the episode.

Mersi initiated the organisation review in February, around the time Harrison was jailed, but he denied it was in response to her actions.

'None of the staff changes arising from the organisational review have any connection with Joanne Harrison's fraud.'

All three of the senior officials who are leaving as part of the restructure were hired by Matthews.

Industry sources said Jackson was instrumental in the work ministry was undertaking on the future of the transport system and intelligent transport systems.