DOC officers told not to discuss mining proposal

Department of Conservation (DOC) staff have been told not to talk to lobby group Forest & Bird without permission in the wake of the information leaks relating to proposals for mining in national parks.

The State Services Commission is investigating a leak to environForest & Bird of information about the Government's review into the mineral wealth of national parks land, currently protected under schedule four of the Crown Minerals Act.

DOC spokesman Rory Newsam said "given the sensitivities", the new directive was to "protect staff". He said the ban related only to mining discussions. It did not mean DOC no longer trusted Forest & Bird, an organisation with which it had many close links. Neither did it mean the source of the leak was believed to be someone in the department, he said.

An email from director-general Al Morrison was sent to all staff this week, saying any such conversations with the conservation group had to go through communications engagement group general manager Nicola Holmes.

"It doesn't impact on either organisation, so staff can still talk to Forest & Bird. Relevant work happens all the time between us. It's only if they are approached by Forest & Bird about mining," Newsam said. "We advised staff a long time back that the schedule-four discussion is not something they should be getting involved in. It's entirely standard practice."

DOC would not release the email, as it was an internal document, he said.

Forest & Bird advocacy manager Kevin Hackwell said the DOC directive was "a bit of an overreaction". "DOC staff are very professional about this sort of stuff and we wouldn't expect them to discuss stuff that is still under policy development. I think if anybody takes offence, it'll probably be the staff."

He would not say if a DOC worker leaked the information. He had not been contacted yet by the commission.

"[I'm] happy to talk to them if they contact us, but I don't know how useful it'll be because I'm not going to tell them my source."

- © Fairfax NZ News