Cost of dodgy Immigration IT project keeps rising

The cost to taxpayers of an Immigration New Zealand (INZ) technology project at the centre of claims public servants engaged in “creative accounting” is at least $6 million more than previously thought, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford has revealed.

The budget write-off associated with INZ’s Biometric Capability Update (BCU) project had previously been estimated at $33 million, but Stanford said the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) – which runs INZ – had added an extra $6 million to the cost after her office questioned the initial figures.

Stanford said MBIE chief executive Nic Blakeley could not guarantee the costs would not increase further, commenting “we consider it raises significant questions regarding MBIE’s financial controls more generally”.

Stanford has referred the matter to prominent barrister and former Solicitor-General Michael Heron KC, who is already investigating the BCU debacle on behalf of Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche.