Ministry head knows market rules

Press, 27 June 1989, Page 9

Ministry head knows market rules

By

MICHAEL RENTOUL

Ms Carol Stigley, who has been chief executive of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs for only two months, has no illusions about job security; Until recently a member of the Government’s market liberalisation programme, Ms Stigley was responsible for making cuts in trade protection to some of New Zealand’s most “sensitive” industries. But she maintains she is no stranger to the sharp end of the knife. The champion of the free market lost her job last year as a result of restructuring in the Trade and Industry Department. Now she knows her fledgling £

Ministry is, in an era of budget cuts, constantly up for re-evalua-tion. Heading one of the smaller Ministries (budget, $4 million; staff, 75) has not shielded Ms Stigley. A rule which she says is valid for once-closeted industries in a free market, is equally true of Government departments in lean times: “There’s no immunity. We have all been at both ends in the last few years. If you can’t take your place, and no-one wants you, then you’ve got to go,” she said. Ms Stigley was in Christchurch yesterday to visit the Ministry’s regional office which opened in Lichfield Street, in March. The Ministry recently took over P

the consumer complaints service from the Consumers’ Institute. It has a community liaison service with an educational role. Inquiries can be made on toll-free lines to the Ministry. ’ Ms Stigley said during the transition to a free market, the decisions for consumers were complex ones. Gone were the days of a single outlet or price. The high protection levels of the past were at the expense of the consumer, and now education was necessary to assist the transition, she said.

Ms Stigley, aged 42, was born in Timaru and spent two years working in Christchurch at Trade and Industry’s export assistance department.