Potato
21st April 2008, 09:42 AM
According to stuff:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4489755a10.html
The Labour Department is refusing to release a secret report detailing how relatives of Immigration Service chief Mary-Anne Thompson wrongly received New Zealand residency.
The Government has washed its hands of the affair, saying it cannot release the report and the matters it raises are "historical".
Immigration Minister Clayton Cosgrove said it was up to the department to release the files and rejected suggestions that the case might undermine confidence in the department. He said though he had raised concerns about the matter when he learned of it last year, it was a historical matter that had happened under a previous minister and different chief executive and was dealt with at the time.
But he said he maintained full confidence in the department.
The Dominion Post revealed last Wednesday that three members of Dr Thompson's extended family from Kiribati were wrongly given New Zealand residency. A staff member was disciplined but no action taken against Dr Thompson.
In response to questions from The Dominion Post, Labour Department chief executive Christopher Blake said on Friday that Dr Thompson helped her relatives fill in their application forms, and that she declared that on the forms.
The applications were approved despite being lodged late and the quota for Kiribati already being filled. The irregularities were discovered in a routine audit and sparked a secret inquiry into conflicts of interest by former secretary of justice David Oughton. Mr Oughton concluded that Dr Thompson had not sought to influence the outcome of the applications.
National's immigration spokesman Lockwood Smith said yesterday that Mr Cosgrove should explain when he found out about the matter, and give an explanation for the report being kept secret.
"The minister should order full disclosure and tell us what he knows. There will be ways to protect people's privacy. These are serious claims and Mr Cosgrove can't just dismiss them as an operational matter. The public will have real concerns if there is any lingering perception that there are different rules for the family members of senior officials."
But the department is using several grounds under the Official Information Act to refuse to release the report, including the need to protect people's privacy. It is also citing fears that releasing the file would prejudice the maintenance of the law "including the prevention, investigation and detection of offences and the right to a fair trial".
When it was put to the department that no offences had been detected and that there was no trial involved, it confirmed that was the case. But a spokesman suggested it could jeopardise future investigations to release such information.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4489755a10.html
The Labour Department is refusing to release a secret report detailing how relatives of Immigration Service chief Mary-Anne Thompson wrongly received New Zealand residency.
The Government has washed its hands of the affair, saying it cannot release the report and the matters it raises are "historical".
Immigration Minister Clayton Cosgrove said it was up to the department to release the files and rejected suggestions that the case might undermine confidence in the department. He said though he had raised concerns about the matter when he learned of it last year, it was a historical matter that had happened under a previous minister and different chief executive and was dealt with at the time.
But he said he maintained full confidence in the department.
The Dominion Post revealed last Wednesday that three members of Dr Thompson's extended family from Kiribati were wrongly given New Zealand residency. A staff member was disciplined but no action taken against Dr Thompson.
In response to questions from The Dominion Post, Labour Department chief executive Christopher Blake said on Friday that Dr Thompson helped her relatives fill in their application forms, and that she declared that on the forms.
The applications were approved despite being lodged late and the quota for Kiribati already being filled. The irregularities were discovered in a routine audit and sparked a secret inquiry into conflicts of interest by former secretary of justice David Oughton. Mr Oughton concluded that Dr Thompson had not sought to influence the outcome of the applications.
National's immigration spokesman Lockwood Smith said yesterday that Mr Cosgrove should explain when he found out about the matter, and give an explanation for the report being kept secret.
"The minister should order full disclosure and tell us what he knows. There will be ways to protect people's privacy. These are serious claims and Mr Cosgrove can't just dismiss them as an operational matter. The public will have real concerns if there is any lingering perception that there are different rules for the family members of senior officials."
But the department is using several grounds under the Official Information Act to refuse to release the report, including the need to protect people's privacy. It is also citing fears that releasing the file would prejudice the maintenance of the law "including the prevention, investigation and detection of offences and the right to a fair trial".
When it was put to the department that no offences had been detected and that there was no trial involved, it confirmed that was the case. But a spokesman suggested it could jeopardise future investigations to release such information.