Scrutiny week brings Immigration NZ's integrity failings into focus, will it be the only agency?

4:49 am today

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford.

Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii

Analysis - National MP Grant McCallum spoke for the room, repeatedly muttering "Jesus!" as Erica Stanford levelled extraordinary allegations against her own ministry, accusing her officials of using "creative accounting" and intentionally misleading her.

On Tuesday, the Immigration Minister described feeling "furious" with her department and having lost confidence in the public servants who provided her advice that turned out to be "complete fiction".

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is now the subject of a Public Service Commission review, which will concentrate on one of the pillars of public service - integrity.

An independent report published on Tuesday morning by Immigration NZ (INZ), which sits within the mega-ministry MBIE, concluded officials persisted with a technology upgrade project despite multiple red flags, including delays, missed milestones and significant inadequacies.

Worse, the escalating costs and "misrepresenting of the true status of the project" to the minister over a number of years had ended with the upgrade being written off to the tune of $31.2 million.

"After seven years, MBIE somehow spent tens of millions of dollars. Not only do we have nothing to show for it, but we are now in a position of having to maintain the existing ageing infrastructure while a new solution is sought," Stanford told MPs at her scrutiny hearing just minutes after the report had been published.

Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche.

Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER

While the report was completed two months ago it was Friday before INZ delivered it to Stanford.

MBIE chief executive Nic Blakely, who sat uncomfortably next to Stanford throughout her scathing attack on the ministry, told MPs this was because the ministry thought it would be better to include its response with the report.

Stanford butted in to say, "There was no response provided".

There were multiple failures across many years, and ministers in the previous Labour government were also kept in the dark, according to Stanford.

Most jaw-dropping was her revelation that "creative accounting practices had been undertaken to keep costs of the project below Cabinet's mandated limit".

While $30 million down the gurgler won't blow out future budgets for a ministry the size of MBIE, the brazenness of what it appears public servants have been doing for years to hide their own failings are of far greater concern.

Speak to any former immigration minister or parliamentary staffer who has dealt with the ministry in the past decade and they'll all agree that the officials were difficult to work with and never truly forthcoming with information.

Plenty of ministries get a bad rap from time-to-time, some warranted and some less so, but INZ seems to be consistently criticised for operating in their own world unbothered by ministerial directives.

When that behaviour is then exposed in such a shocking way it gives the public - those taxpayers shelling out for the salaries of those under review - all the more ammunition for questioning whether the public service is fit for purpose.

Job cuts have been extensive for public servants in recent years and a lot of attention goes on whether it's right or fair to be cutting those jobs - far more attention than what is given to job cuts in the private sector, by way of comparison.

Those who are going about their job serving the public in a professional way are unfairly tarnished by those who don't take their position of power and influence as seriously.

MBIE chief executive Nic Blakely.

Photo: Supplied / MBIE

Stanford has put a dark cloud over INZ and depending on the outcome of Sir Brian Roche's review there may be more cuts in the public service yet.

Blakely has already indicated he will undertake employment investigations once he's seen the outcome of the Public Service Commission review.

As Roche said on Tuesday, "The integrity matters highlighted by the report are serious and concerning.

"They go to the core of the behaviours and ethics required of public servants, and the ability of Ministers to have confidence in the advice they receive from officials."

As scrutiny week continues, chief executives appearing at Parliament may find MPs asking the question: if this happened here, could it be happening elsewhere?

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