Immigration Minister Erica Stanford has accused officials at Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) of deliberately withholding information, misleading ministers and using “creative accounting” to avoid Cabinet scrutiny over a failed immigration technology project that cost taxpayers more than $31 million.
An independent review found the Biometric Capability Upgrade was launched without ministerial approval, plagued by governance failures, escalating costs and missed milestones before being abandoned in 2025 without delivering any measurable benefits.
Stanford described the findings as among the most serious she had seen, alleging concerns were ignored, staff were moved after raising issues and key information was kept from both current and former governments.
MBIE chief executive Nic Blakeley apologised for the failures and accepted responsibility on behalf of the department, while Brian Roche confirmed an independent integrity investigation would be launched into the conduct of officials involved.
We have the best (selected) politicians money can buy. Don’t forget to give the church parliament your consent to keep screwing you over in November.
$31m went somewhere? Follow the money!
The IT company behind this will be where the money went, they are leeches in this field, you never own the system even though you are paying for it.
Don’t worry the “independent integrity investigation” will sweep it under the rug, after all it’s small change compared to the COn-of-the-century-VID scam.
What a circus. A bunch of incompetent clowns pushing their agenda without any oversight from government.
Ineffective leadership and corrupt government workers. I don’t know if this is criminal, if it isnt, It damn well should be.
Fish rots from the head hope people will loose their jobs over this.