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Winston Peters says public servants who mislead ministers should be sacked and "put in prison".
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford revealed yesterday that officials "deliberately withheld" information from both her and the previous Labour government about a biometrics project and used "creative accounting" to avoid scrutiny.
Stanford said Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche would investigate "integrity concerns" raised by a damning review.
An independent report - released by Immigration New Zealand - identified major flaws in the department's handling of a biometric upgrade project, resulting in a waste of more than $30 million. The report's author, Greg James, said INZ launched the project in 2018 without ministerial sign-off, then pivoted to an "off-shelf model" in 2020 without due diligence.
Speaking to reporters after a select committee appearance today, Peters, the Foreign Affairs Minister and leader of coalition partner NZ First, said those responsible needed to be held to account.
"Of course you'd lose your job. They need to be put in prison as well. It's a conspiracy against the people, for goodness' sake."
Responding to Peters' comments, Stanford told RNZ: "That's not something that I would say, but it is really important that the public service commissioner does a full investigation."
Peters said the revelations came as no surprise, noting that he had warned Stanford "some time ago" that Immigration New Zealand was the "worst department in this country by miles".
"I'm pleased they've been found out, and now they're going to be straightened out, because they've simply been lying to Parliamentarians and lying to the taxpayers of this country."
Peters noted some officials were excellent and worthy of trust, but you do get a "few apples that have gone off".
He lamented the loss of more than $30 million, saying that could have helped ordinary families.
He also questioned why it had taken so long to work out things were wrong, also questioning the ministerial oversight.
'They fell very short'
Finance Minister Nicola Willis said "accountability" was important to ensure such conduct was never repeated.
"The message I want everyone in the public service to hear is: do not cover up bad news, send it up to the minister's desk, so that we can take the right decisions on behalf of New Zealanders.
"When you cover your own butt, you're actually putting New Zealand taxpayers at risk."
Willis said she had no reason to think that such behaviour stretched more widely through the public service.
"My experience is that most public servants come to work each day with high levels of integrity, wanting to do a good job on behalf of their fellow New Zealanders, but clearly, in this instance, they fell very short."
Following a scrutiny hearing for the Public Service, Minister Paul Goldsmith and Roche were questioned about Peters' comments.
Asked if it was helpful to have a senior minister saying public servants should be imprisoned, Roche said "there's a wide range of views on this".
He said he did not know if recommending criminal charges were within his powers.
"The courts determine who goes to prison. At this point, let's get the investigation done and whatever flows from that will flow."
Asked whether anyone needed to be stood down as part of the process, Roche said he would get "whatever evidence we need", and then "take whatever actions".
"If I look like I'm leaping to a level of predetermination that will undermine the integrity of the report - the integrity is what we're trying to preserve here."
However, Roche did say he did not think police needed to be involved at this point.
On whether it was within Roche's powers to recommend criminal charges, Goldsmith said he wasn't a lawyer "but my understanding is that it is for police to decide whether to do such things".
On the officials themselves who were involved in the failed biometrics project at Immigration New Zealand, Roche was asked if they had been stood down.
"The senior officials are no longer involved," he replied and was "still working through" whether they remained in the public service.
This story was first published on rnz.co.nz |  |