KEY POINTS:
Barry Matthews is digging in, refusing to resign over the ongoing problems at Corrections and setting up a battle royal with the Government if it tries to remove him.
Mr Matthews said he believed that he personally had "nothing to fear" from an inquiry into who was accountable
after a damning Auditor-General's report on how the department managed parole.
He was speaking publicly for the first time since Corrections Minister Judith Collins refused to express confidence in him as the department's chief executive.
Mr Matthews said there were "mitigating circumstances" to Auditor-General Kevin Brady's report, which was a follow-up to see if improvements had been made after Graeme Burton's murderous rampage in 2007, but found that Corrections had failed to follow its procedures in nearly all of 100 offenders' cases.
Mr Matthews said the report was done when the department was adjusting to a stricter parole-monitoring system introduced to fix the deficiencies that contributed to Burton's being free to murder Karl Kuchenbecker.
The Auditor-General's report mentions failing to fill out reports for dangerous offenders, but Mr Matthews revealed that not one probation officer had been dismissed because of it.
"The problem that's really been identified is that staff are actually doing the best they can with limited resources."
He said attempts to get more staff from the Labour Government in 2003 and 2007 were turned down.
The Auditor-General found there was a 10 per cent shortage of probation officers but said extra resources would not solve the department's problem with "recurring non-compliance".
Mr Matthews agreed that "culture change" was needed but said it was not a "quick job".
Ms Collins cannot sack Mr Matthews herself, but refusal to express confidence and blunt criticism of the department have been interpreted as a signal to his employer, the State Services Commissioner, that she cannot work with him.
Mr Matthews said he did not believe Ms Collins was trying to get rid of him, and said he looked forward to working with her.
Ms Collins has given State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie 10 days to find out who was accountable.
Mr Matthews said he was working with Mr Rennie on this and had nothing to fear. He had been aware of the problems the Auditor-General identified and the department had made significant progress in fixing them since May last year.
He said he was four-fifths of the way through a performance review with Mr Rennie that had included discussion of the issues raised in the report. Ms Collins had participated in the review.
Mr Matthews earns $375,000 a year and his contract reportedly has two years to run.
Leading employment lawyer John Haigh, QC, said it would now be "very difficult" for the Government if it wanted to remove Mr Matthews.
Mr Haigh said that by not resigning, Mr Matthews had avoided having to take a case of constructive dismissal - which would have been difficult as the onus was on him to prove he was pushed out.
If the Government wanted to remove Mr Matthews, the onus would be on the State Services Commission to prove he had not met the key objectives in his contract, "a laborious and longwinded process".
Ms Collins said she was pleased Mr Matthews was staying on and acting in a professional way but could not comment on whether she had confidence in him until the State Services Commissioner reported back.
Labour Corrections spokesman Clayton Cosgrove said Ms Collins' position had shifted significantly and it looked as if "this toxic relationship is going to have to co-exist".
