Swain Paul: Urgent Debates — Immigration Service—Ombudsman’s Report 
Swain Paul: Urgent Debates — Immigration Service—Ombudsman’s Report 
[Volume:615;Page:11390] 
Hon PAUL SWAIN (Minister of Immigration) 
: 
 Let me begin by saying that the Secretary of Labour has my confidence. He will not be resigning and he certainly will not be sacked. 
I think most members would have picked up the irony of the righteous indignation of that member who was the Minister of Tourism and it is important to remember that when he was the Minister of Tourism he threw his weight around. He interfered in statutory boards. He tried to get rid of them. That resulted in messy and huge costs to the taxpayer of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some of those payments were considered to be illegal and after all that having said he had done nothing wrong 6 days later he resigned from the portfolio of Minister of Tourism. So no one believes in that righteous indignation. That member has no credibility whatsoever in this House when talking about the ethics of the public sector and the public service. 
There are two important things to say right at the outset. First it is critical that the public have confidence in our Government agencies and second it is important that the Official Information Act is respected. That Act is an important plank of our democracy. The Ombudsman’s report is thorough. It addresses both of those issues and certainly my job is to ensure that the recommendations are acted upon. 
I want to begin by saying that I accept in full the report of the Ombudsman into the actions of the department into the Official Information Act complaint. I also say that I am pleased the Ombudsman found there was no evidence to suggest that anyone was involved in any agreement to lie in unison in respect of media inquiries about Ahmed Zaoui. Those were the accusations and allegations of the former Minister of Tourism Murray McCully but the Ombudsman states in the report: “I have not seen or heard any evidence that suggests or indicates that any person or persons as officials in the NZIS was involved in any agreement to lie in unison.” That was also the finding of the Secretary of Labour. Both reports agree on that. 
The Ombudsman did go on to say however that he thought there were problems with the internal processes for the handling of Official Information Act requests. That is absolutely right and I take seriously as I said the obligations of the Public Service in respect of the Official Information Act. I have been assured by Dr Buwalda that these issues are being addressed and I will return to those in just a minute. I have instructed the Secretary of Labour to report to me on the implementation of the recommendations by the end of March. 
It is true that the Ombudsman is critical of two staff of the Immigration Service. However neither the Ombudsman nor myself are responsible for employment matters within the New Zealand Immigration Service because unlike Mr McCully we do not wander around and throw our weight around in areas where we are not entitled to do so. The responsibility for these matters lies with the Secretary of Labour and I understand he is addressing disciplinary and performance issues relating to this matter. 
It is important to say that the secretary has already started addressing some of the matters raised in the report. He advises me he is concluding a review of guidelines for the handling of official information. Once the review is completed ongoing training will be given to staff to ensure the guidelines are effectively applied. The secretary has made it explicit to the department’s managers that they must actively oversee the work of people involved in responding to Official Information Act requests. Where classified information is involved managers must ensure that people with appropriate security clearance handle those requests. The secretary has also made it clear to all staff that no inappropriate material should be included in any communications originating from within the department and that managers are responsible for monitoring that rule. 
As far as the two officials mentioned in the report are concerned the secretary advises me that he had already initiated disciplinary proceedings and performance management action following his own investigation last year. He will now take the Ombudsman’s findings—the report today—into consideration in determining any further action to take. 
This is an important report. It goes into details. It does state there was no lying in unison but it certainly criticises two officials. The Secretary of Labour indicates that he has also accepted that in full and that he will be acting on those recommendations. I have asked him to report to me particularly in relation to the Official Information Act report in March. 
Apart from the indignation of the former Minister of Tourism Murray McCully I have accepted this report—given that the events in the Ombudsman’s report pre-date both my appointment to the portfolios and the appointment of Dr Buwalda as Secretary of Labour. This report presents an opportunity for us to deal with the recommendations and provides both of us with an opportunity for a fresh start.