Newman Muriel: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Newman Muriel: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:612;Page:9090] 
8.  
Dr MURIEL NEWMAN (ACT) 
 to the  
Minister of Immigration 
: On what date did she first learn that the New Zealand Immigration Service had dismissed an immigration officer who had sought sexual favours in return for helping a woman with her immigration application and does she consider it acceptable that the Immigration Service never called the police? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL (Minister of Immigration) 
: 
 I was first notified of this matter on or around 3 October 2003. Whether there is sufficient evidence of criminal activity which would involve a referral to the police as opposed to misconduct amounting to grounds for dismissal will be a matter of judgment on a case by case basis. As a result of concerns I had about allegations around misconduct I asked the Minister of State Services just before Christmas last year to invite the State Services Commission to review the procedures that the Immigration Service has in place for internal investigations. This has now been completed and the recommendations are being implemented. 
Dr Muriel Newman 
: Exactly how many complaints were received against that officer and did he continue to work as an officer while that one particular complaint was investigated? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: In answer to the second part of the question the answer is yes. With regard to the first part of the question the advice I have is that a complaint was first received from an immigration consultant who said that he used inappropriate language in dealing with her. Then the complaint that has received the publicity was received from the student. I am also advised that a subsequent complaint was laid after he had been dismissed. 
Katherine Rich 
: Will the Minister now request that the police investigate the “sex for residency” scandal; if not why not? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: The individual concerned was the subject of an external investigation that the Immigration Service sought when the two complaints were originally received. At the time the complaints were received it did not appear that there was sufficient evidence of criminal activity warranting referral to the police. With regard to the external evaluation of the situation the investigators reported back to the Immigration Service that on a question of balance there were grounds for dismissal for misconduct. That dismissal took place. The individual concerned then consulted a lawyer. The lawyer then made a complaint to the Immigration Service that a personal grievance was to be pursued. The last correspondence was with the lawyer in May. We are still waiting for them to nominate a date for mediation. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Why is that under the Minister’s leadership of the Immigration Service we have within her service sex maniacs— 
Hon Members 
: Aw! 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: —that is what I would call them—and fraudsters and conspirators who seek to break the law with others all of whom were identified by her officials at the last estimates hearing of a parliamentary select committee; and why were not all those cases referred to the New Zealand Police or is she seriously involved in a cover-up? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: Given that the individual concerned had been employed by the Immigration Service for 8 years the member can answer that question. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No. I ask that the Minister develop her answer a little more fully please. 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: That member was employed 8 years ago and the Immigration Service received a report identifying that on a balance of probabilities he had breached the code of conduct. He was dismissed for that reason. We are awaiting further advice from his legal counsel about the setting down of a date for mediation. I think it would be inappropriate to go into any further detail until the matter is finally resolved. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I have asked this Minister why this very serious behaviour repeated across a number of officials in a number of different areas—all cases of criminal behaviour—has not been referred specifically to the Minister of Police. This is not a matter of wrongful dismissal or a grievance situation; this is a criminal matter. I am asking her to tell me which of the 13 cases were referred and which were not. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No. The Minister after I asked her to develop her answer did address the question. That obviously will not satisfy everybody but an answer has been given. 
Katherine Rich 
: Is the decision on whether to press charges better made by the police rather than the Minister’s own immigration officials; and why will she not call in the police to undertake an investigation into what is a “sex for residency” scandal? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: The member can define it as such if she likes. Twenty-five members of Immigration Service staff have been dismissed since 1999 for a range of reasons—not all criminal offences—including giving precedence to certain clients failing to turn up to work providing a fraudulent medical certificate in relation to absence from work misappropriating money behaving fraudulently and processing applications improperly. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The member will now stand withdraw and apologise for that comment. He is very lucky not to be leaving the House. 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I withdraw and apologise. 
Dr Muriel Newman 
: Can we take it from the Minister’s answers that her Government’s policy is that immigration officers seeking sex for residence from would-be immigrants are guilty of sexual harassment rather than bribery and corruption; if not what is her Government’s policy? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: The Government’s policy is that it is unacceptable for any official to make demands of any customer or client of any Government department. This Government will not tolerate fraud at any level. I approached the Minister of State Services in December last year and asked for a full report to be done on the way the Immigration Service deals with internal complaints. This Government is in the process of implementing recommendations which we have addressed and which no other Government has addressed before. 
Katherine Rich 
: What signal does she believe this case sends to migrants and is this the reason that the department is keeping the matter in-house if not covering it up? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: The message this sends to would-be migrants is that if they are in any way treated inappropriately by any member of the Immigration Service then this Government will act.