MBIE chief denies attempt to mislead Parliament over failed $35m project
The chief executive of New Zealand's Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) admitted to failing to disclose the cancellation of a $35 million IT project to Parliament. While he apologized for the lack of transparency, he denied any deliberate attempt to mislead the committee.
Why it matters
The incident raises significant questions regarding government accountability, transparency in public spending, and the relationship between executive agencies and legislative oversight.
The chief executive of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has accepted the ministry got things wrong when it did not disclose information to MPs about a cancelled IT project earlier this year.
But he denies the ministry deliberately attempted to mislead Parliament.
In March, MBIE failed to tell Parliament's Education and Workforce Committee that the $35 million Biometric Capability Update (BCU) project had been axed , telling MPs there was no public review about its progress.
In reality, the project was already dead.
In June, Speaker Gerry Brownlee referred the matter to the Privileges Committee , after Labour's Phil Twyford and the Education and Workforce Committee both raised it as a matter of privilege.
MBIE chief executive Nic Blakeley appearing before the Privileges Committee.
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