Media Release from the State Services Commissioner
Wednesday 21 April 2004
Comment on the release of the inquiry report into actions of employees of the Immigration Service and the Parliamentary
Service
The State Services Commissioner, Michael Wintringham, today commented on the release of the report on his review of
actions of employees of the Immigration Service and the Parliamentary Service regarding a letter annotated with, amongst
other things, a drawing of a guinea pig, and its transmission to the Minister of Immigration. The object of the inquiry
was to establish:
* The circumstances in which any employee of the Immigration Service or of the Parliamentary Service handled or
obtained a copy of the annotated letter;
* Actions taken in respect of the copy of the letter by any such employee;
* The involvement, if any, of any such employee in the passing of the letter to any party, including the
Electorate Office for the member of Parliament for Mount Albert, and/or in transmission of the letter to the Minister of
Immigration. Christopher Toogood, QC, carried out the investigation on behalf of the Commissioner.
Mr Wintringham said the report provides an extensive and comprehensive analysis of the circumstances surrounding the
creation and handling of the annotated letter.
"The inquiry report outlines the likely chain of events that led to the letter's eventual publication. Whilst there are
some conflicting recollections regarding certain events, the inquiry revealed no improper behaviour by Immigration
Service officials. The report states: "The published copy of the annotated letter was not supplied to the
electorate office, or to the Minister, by employees of the Immigration Service."
"In summary, the report finds no wrong doing by any officials but it does note the difficulties faced by Parliamentary
Service staff working in electorate offices. Their role is at the interface of the political and the non-political
Public Service - as the report states:
"electorate agents are obliged to tread a fine line between representing the interests of constituents who see advantage
in making representations through an electorate office to a Minister or Member of Parliament, and protecting Members of
Parliament and Ministers from allegations of improper interference in statutory decision-making or statutory processes."
"The report therefore does not criticise the Mt Albert electoral office staff for their actions in passing on the
annotated letter to a Minister of Parliament."
"The vast majority of State sector staff uphold the highest standards of ethical behaviours in their work. Allegations
of improper behaviour on the part of one individual impact on all State sector staff and should not be made lightly. Any
allegation should be investigated thoroughly - as it was in this case," Mr Wintringham said.
The Report for the State Services Commissioner into actions of employees of the Immigration Service and the
Parliamentary Service, by Christopher Toogood, QC can be found online at
http://www.ssc.govt.nz/inquiry-report-imm-serv-and-parl-serv from 2pm.
ENDS