That's my mum you're hurting, PM told

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A Wellington woman has written a letter to Prime Minister John Key spelling out the human cost of public service job cuts.

The desperate mother of two says she was compelled to pen the note after her 63-year-old mother learned last week that her position at the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry is to be axed.

Staffing cuts after a merger with the Fisheries Ministry will leave 144 people jobless, mostly in the capital. They will join more than 1500 civil servants laid off this year so far.

In the letter, the woman says her usually "loving and vibrant" mother is now "depressed and anxious" after learning she is not likely to get one of the few vacancies left open.

"This has terrified her and she is in turmoil and worry about her future, something that a woman of her age does not need."

Her mother may have to leave her one-bedroom flat as she will no longer be able to afford the rent, apply for the unemployment benefit and state-funded accommodation.

She said she wrote to Mr Key to make him "understand what is happening to people in this country when they are losing their jobs".

Labour MP for Wellington Central Grant Robertson says the woman, who does not want to be named for fear of losing her part-time public service job, brought the letter to him on Friday. She admits she did not vote National at the last election.

Mr Robertson, the party's acting state services spokesman, said it would be "pretty tough" for a woman in her 60s to find "regular, well-paid work".

"It is very easy for the current Government to lump everybody into a statistic and say this is what has to be done in the public service ... to depersonalise it. "But these are real people, with real lives and families.

"One of the insidious things about cuts to the public sector is these are people who can't openly fight back because their job is to work for the government of the day. This woman just wanted to make her voice heard."

A spokeswoman for Mr Key said he had not received the letter. He would respond to the author, but "not through the media".

'TRIMMING FAT'

Almost 2000 jobs have been axed since December 2008 as the Government seeks to "trim the fat" in the public service.

They include: Defence Force 400, IRD 200, MSD 200, MAF 144, Health Ministry 130, Education Ministry 100, ACC 70, State Services Commission 16.

- © Fairfax NZ News