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Immigration Minister Erica Stanford has accused her own ministry of deliberately withholding information from ministers and using creative accounting to hide cost blowouts on a failed technology project that wasted more than $30 million of taxpayer money.
Stanford made the comments at a parliamentary Scrutiny Week hearing on Tuesday, alongside Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) chief executive Nic Blakeley, who apologised to MPs and accepted accountability on behalf of the department.
An independent report released by Immigration New Zealand on Tuesday found officials launched the Biometric Capability Upgrade project in 2018 without ministerial sign-off, then switched to an off-the-shelf model in 2020 without proper due diligence. The project ran for seven years before being stopped in 2025, delivering no measurable benefits.
Report author Greg James said officials persisted despite repeated red flags — delays, missed milestones and significant inadequacies. Ministerial reporting was found to be inconsistent, at times overly optimistic and occasionally misrepresenting the project's true status.
This year's Budget includes a $31.2 million write-off of the project.
Stanford described the findings as "almost as bad as it gets". She said ministers were misled, staff who raised concerns were moved off the project, and officials used creative accounting to keep costs below Cabinet's approved limit — including splitting the project into two parts to avoid the oversight that would have been triggered by rising costs.
"From what I've been told, things were done that required Cabinet oversight in order to keep it away from Cabinet," she said.
She said officials later gave her advice that turned out to be "complete fiction" and sought further funding without disclosing that previous requests had been declined.
Stanford said her confidence in MBIE had been further damaged by the fact the independent report was delivered to the ministry two months ago but only passed on to her last Friday. Blakeley acknowledged that was a "wrong call" by officials.
Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche will appoint an independent investigator to look into the matter. Stanford said she raised the integrity concerns with Roche on Friday and requested the review.
"The integrity matters highlighted by the report are serious and concerning," Sir Brian said. "They go to the core of the behaviours and ethics required of public servants."
Blakeley said he found the review a "very difficult read" and was prepared to begin employment investigations depending on what the inquiry finds. "I take integrity very seriously," he said.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins, whose party was in government for part of the project's life, welcomed the review. He said his government's immigration minister had decided against further funding for the project, and that any withholding of information from ministers of either government should be fully investigated.
The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union has called for sackings. Spokesperson Tory Relf said the conduct amounted to a direct attack on democratic accountability.
"If a private-sector employee misled their boss and wasted millions of dollars, they'd be shown the door," Relf said. "Heads must roll."
The independent investigation will make recommendations on findings and next steps.