Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman
Minister of Immigration
5 March 2009

Minister Releases Pacific Division Review

Minister of Immigration Dr Jonathan Coleman has today released the Ernst and Young Department of Labour Pacific Division Review, as well as his response to the review’s findings.

“The Pacific Division was the ill-conceived creation of the last Labour Government, set up by the former head of Immigration Mary Anne Thompson. It was never given a clear mandate by Labour; the leadership was poor and the performance has been sub-optimal. Despite previous reports about the Pacific Division the last government failed to take appropriate action. The mess described in this latest report is unacceptable.”

“This latest review has found severe deficiencies across Immigration New Zealand’s Pacific Division. It paints a damning picture of a poorly performing service that was poorly led and lacked a clear strategic mandate. The Division has become isolated from the rest of Immigration New Zealand over time, effectively acting in an autonomous manner which is out of keeping with accepted practice.”

The report detailed:

• serious concerns about Divisional leadership
- that lacked accountability, transparency and proper process
- that focused on external relationships at the expense of operational capabilities
- that created a “fiefdom” mentality
• serious concerns about strategic direction with no clarity over the Division’s roles and responsibilities
• poor management resulting in
- significant quality issues particularly in relation to residence applications
- ineffective monitoring and use of performance information
- poor work processes resulting in major inefficiencies
• huge backlogs of applications and issues regarding timeliness and quality
• concern regarding financial processes and compliance
• poor internal relationships

Dr Coleman agrees with the report’s authors on the description of problems in the Division. However, he disagrees with the report’s view that on balance the Pacific Division should remain.

“The report does not present a convincing argument for why the Division should be retained. There is well documented evidence of poor performance by the Pacific Division over an extended period. The Division has been poorly led and has assumed an unmandated role that has resulted in serious dysfunction.”

“This situation has simply gone on for too long. It is clear to me that effective immigration services cannot be delivered by the Pacific Division in its current configuration.”

Consequently the government is taking the following action:

1. The Minister of Immigration will direct the CEO of the Department of Labour to consider re-integrating all activities of the Pacific Division back into the core of Immigration New Zealand. This will ensure that there are clear lines of accountability and that the workings of the Pacific Division are aligned with the rest of Immigration New Zealand.

2. The Minister of Immigration will appoint an independent advisor to report to him on the Chief Executive’s actions in relation to the Pacific Division and to monitor service performance.

“It is important to note that these decisions are aimed at improving Immigration New Zealand’s services in the Pacific. The problems identified in this review have to be rectified and confidence restored in Immigration New Zealand’s Pacific operations. The Chief Executive has been working for some time on implementing some of the review’s recommendations and he and I are on the same page regarding the path ahead. I am confident that the necessary changes will be made.”

The Auditor General is releasing the “Inquiry into Matters Arising Out of Immigration New Zealand” in the near future. Further actions may arise out of that report.

For a full copy of the report go to http://beehive.govt.nz/sites/all/files/80404v3.pdf

ENDS

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