Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE; Māori: Hīkina Whakatutuki) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with "delivering policy, services, advice and regulation to support business growth". History Formed on 1 July 2012, MBIE is a merger of the Department of Building and Housing (DBH), the Department of Labour (DoL), the Ministry of Economic Development (MED), and the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MSI). The Ministry was responsible for the Pike River Recovery Agency from 31 January 2018 to 1 July 2022. In October 2018, the newly created Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) assumed several of MBIE's housing policy, funding and regulatory functions including the KiwiBuild programme, the Community Housing Regulatory Authority, and administration of funding for the HomeStart, Welcome Home Loans, the legacy Social Housing Fund and Community Group Housing programmes. On 14 July 2020, the Ministry assumed responsibility for running the New Zealand Government's COVID-19 managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) programme. The last four MIQ facilities closed in June 2022. In October 2023, RNZ reported that MBIE had a secret intelligence unit focusing on immigration, intelligence and operational matters. It drew criticism from the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand for using tools from Israeli surveillance firm Cobwebs Technologies to scour the social media accounts of prospective immigrants. In April 2024, the Ministry chose not to renew its contract with Cobwebs for undisclosed reasons. By April 2024, MBIE had laid off 286 employees as part of Government cost cutting measures in the public sector. 111 resigned in the first wave of voluntary redundancies while 175 full-time roles were disestablished between December 2023 and March 2024. In mid-February 2025, the Crown Research Institute Callaghan Innovation announced that its funding and grant services and the Health Tech Activator would be transferred to MBIE. The New Zealand Government had earlier in January 2025 announced plans to dissolve Callaghan Innovation and replace the various Crown Research Institutes with four new Public Research Organisations by 1 July 2025. In mid-June 2026, the Minister of Immigration Erica Stanford criticised MBIE and Immigration New Zealand officials for allegedly misleading her and her predecessors Kris Faafoi and Andrew Little about the failed NZ$33 million Immigration Biometric Upgrade project, which ran between November 2018 and November 2025 without delivering anything. Stanford alleged that MBIE officials used "creative accounting" to avoid scrutiny from the New Zealand Cabinet and misled Crown ministers about the cost and progress of the project. In response, the Public Service Commission and MBIE launch separate investigations into the Immigration Biometric Upgrade Project and another similar IT upgrade project called "Our Future Services." Structure Senior Leadership Chief Executive and Secretary (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) Deputy Secretary – Labour, Science and Enterprise Deputy Secretary – Corporate and Digital Shared Services Deputy Secretary – Immigration Deputy Secretary – Regional Development and Commercial Services Deputy Secretary – Strategy and Assurance Deputy Secretary – Building, Resources and Markets Deputy Secretary – Te Whakatairanga Service Delivery Chief Advisor to the Secretary Operational functions The Ministry manages a number of operational services, including: Building Practitioners Board Building Systems Performance Business.govt.nz Companies Office, which also manages registers for: motor-vehicle traders financial-service providers societies and trusts personal-property securities Consumer Protection (formerly the Ministry of Consumer Affairs) Electrical Workers Registration Board Employment New Zealand Government procurement Immigration Advisers Authority Immigration New Zealand Insolvency and Trustee Service Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand Major events Māori Economic Development, including partnership with the independent Māori Economic Development Panel and partnering in He kai kei aku ringa (HKKAR – providing the food you need with your own hands) – the Māori Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan "MI": a secret intelligence unit focusing on immigration, intelligence and operational matters. Motor Vehicle Traders Register New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals Natural Hazards Research Platform (NHRP) New Zealand Cycle Trail New Zealand Space Agency Personal Property Securities Register Provincial Growth Fund Radio Spectrum Management Registrar of Unions Resolution Services Standards New Zealand State Housing Appeals Authority Strategic Science Investment Fund (SSIF) Tenancy Services Trading Services Vision Mātauranga (indigenous knowledge policy) Weathertight Services Monitoring functions The ministry is the monitor of the following Crown entities, Crown research institutes, statutory boards and non-listed companies. Ministers The Ministry serves 21 portfolios, 17 ministers and 2 parliamentary under-secretaries. References External links Official website