Bombshell

The chief of New Zealand's Defence Force has admitted The Aucklander was given inaccurate answers on the woeful state of an ammunition depot in the middle of Auckland. John Landrigan and Edward Rooney report.
Inquiries are under way at Defence Force headquarters after the head of the forces confessed The Aucklander was misled during an investigation into the rundown Kauri Pt ammunitions depot.
The poor state of the Birkenhead facility was exposed in our articles last year but some concerns were brushed off by Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae.
Since our report, General Mateparae has conceded: "In a few instances, answers provided to you simply were not accurate."
New Zealand's 75-year-old ammunitions storage depot on the shore of the Waitemata Harbour is in a poor shape and has been the site of security lapses and pollution spills over recent years.
The Aucklander spoke to concerned residents and a former worker, who talked on condition of anonymity.
After being told of our investigations, General Mateparae confirmed:

• Ageing facilities are not the safest preference for storing powerful missiles
• Pollutants have been leaching into Waitemata Harbour
• An untold number of staff have raised worries about safety through their union
• Security lapses left the whole site without alarms; an untold number of storage facilities still do not have alarms
• The limit of the explosives' "controlled zone" coincides with the perimeter fence - all that separates the public from the site in some areas
• The storage facilities are not designed to contain explosions.

However, General Mateparae largely ruled out concerns about the explosion zone around the perimeter of the site; expired Test Certification on explosives store houses; detonators being stored in a building that was not alarmed; staff refusing to carry out duties because of safety concerns; the number of staff that had left during the past two years; and visible contaminants in waterways on the site.

These later allegations, General Mateparae concedes, do have some substance.

"Recently, a new management team undertook routine administrative checks relating to Kauri Pt and Whangaparaoa depots," he says in a written statement.

"Those checks have identified a number of issues that impact on some of the answers you previously received."

General Mateparae apologises for the inaccuracies and says he has directed the new management team to review how the wrong information was provided.

However, he reiterates both depots at Kauri Pt and Whangaparaoa are "fit for purpose" and meet public safety expectations.

General Mateparae has since left his post to run the Government Communications Security Bureau from February. Major-General Richard Rhys Jones becomes defence chief next week.

First casualty is the truth

It is certainly difficult to get correct answers from our Defence Force.

Dr Roderick Deane's "value for money" report on the force last August found: "Collection of data was sometimes a challenge because it was, at times, subject to disconcerting changes as it was reworked and because the same question could at times attract different answers.

"In some cases the information sought was either not available or not available in a form that was useable. There is often no 'one source of the truth' within the NZDF."

However, the report did notice: "There has been significant under-investment in the defence estate and this is clearly visible at camps and bases ... In many cases the bases fall well short of being fit for purpose and will not be helping [staff] retention." It recommends spending an extra $8-$10 million on defence properties.

Defence Minister Wayne Mapp told the Institute of International Affairs on December 13 the financial targets outlined in the report will be broadly adopted.

"This is the only way we can build capability," he said. "How this is achieved will not be exactly as Dr Deane proposed. The Chief of Defence Force has been given flexibility in how the target is achieved, subject to ministerial expectations."

Here is the letter from Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae revisiting some of the answers he had previously given The Aucklander (our questions are in italics):

Since I wrote to you last I have been made aware of new information that on the answers I previously supplied. Recently a new management team undertook routice administrative checks relating to Kauri Point and Whangaparaoa depots. Those checks have identified a number of issues that impact on some of the answers you previously received. I have formed a view that in some cases while the answers supplied to you were technicalluy accurate, more fulsome answers should have been provided to you. In a few instances, answers provided to you simply were not accurate. I will canvass the issues identified in the order they arise in the responses previously supplied.

[Please confirm] That the explosion zone or "blue line" adjoins the wire fence separating the public from the depot and the zone circles into the harbour out past the wharf.

The answer to this question was correct; however, the answer as written may have created the impression that the Controlled Zone was always contained within the Kauri Point security fence-line. This is not so. As per the image you were supplied, it is always contained within NZ Defence Force land, as per the requirement of DFO53 but this does not always coincide with the fence-line. You will appreciate that there is a difference between the Controlled Zone, which provides various degress of protection from blast, fragmentation and heat, as opposed to fencing for the purpose of physical security.

All the explosive store houses or "magazines" at Kauri Point are not licensed. That is not test certified. If so, please supply independent documentation/certification/evidence that shows they are certified or confirm when they expired and why they have not been renewed?

The buildings or "magazines" at Whangaparaoa navy site are not licensed. That is not test certified. If so, please supply independent documentation/certification/evidence that shows they are certified or confirm when they expired and why they have not been renewed?

The routine administrative checks by the new management team (as mentioned above) have established that a number of the Kauri Point Test Certificates had expired at the time I wrote to you. As an outcome of the administrative checks there was an immediate revalidation and issuance of new Test Certificates for all facilities used for storage of explosives at Kauri Point. Those certificates are now valid until 23 October 2013. In respect of Whangaparaoa, the new management team attempted a visual check of the Test Certificates but these coudl not be located. Again, an immediate revalidation and issuance of new Test Certificates for all facilities used for storage of explosives at Whangaparaoa was undertaken. Those certificates are now valid until 21 October 2013.

I have asked the respective parts of my organisation - those responsible for the Test Certification of these sites, and those responsible for compiling answers to Official Information Act requests - for explanations as to how this expiry issue came about, and how the wrong answer came to be provided to you, respectively.

Please say why the building where the detonators are stored are not alarmed?

My letter of 17 September explained that the electrical cable for the alarms on the detonator storage building at DAD KP had been accidentally broken by a contractor, and that the problem had been rectified. This is the case. It has since come to my notice that additionally, the Northern Explosive Ordnance Team had detaonators in a Kauri Point explosive sotrage building that was not alarmed. This may have been the building you referred to in your question, and a more complete answer should have mentioned this at the time. An alarmed storage facility has now been provided to meet this particular requirement.

Have any staff members refused to partake in any activity onsite due to safety concerns? Has the New Zealand Public Service Association complained to the ministry on behalf of staff? Please send documentation outlining these complaints and how they were actioned by the ministry?

While the answer provided was accurate in so far as it went, I have been made aware of further information that I believe is relevant to your question. Currently one employee is refusing to participate in a particular manufacturing process. The PSA is aware of this issue and I am advised a plan has been developed with the PSA to resolve this issue.

How many staff at Kauri Point? How many staff have left since September 1 2008?

In respect of staff numbers, you were advised that two out of 28 employees at Kauri Point had left since 1 September 2008. Subsequent analysis of more specific personnel data has ascertained that five of the staff who were working in the ammunition area left during the period in question. There are now 22 established posts at the Kauri Point ammunition depot.

Please confirm the defence force used to dump the toxins into a lake onsite until ordered to clean that up? When was that order given? We are told "there is visible contaminant. You can't even get algae growing around it. There are no molluscs". Please make comment.

In addition to the information provided, it has come to my attention that onsite there is also a small pond (in addition to the back-up firefighting water supply pond). I have been advised that this pond has yet to be tested as the consultant company undertaing the Kauir Point stormwater investigation had not considered it likely to be a priority environmental issue.

Conclusion

Let me again apologise that in this instance some inaccurate information was released to you, as well as answers that in hindsight could have been more fulsome. As mentioned, I have directed that the new management team undertake a review into how this situation arose, to ensure processes are sufficiently robust so as to avoid any repetition in the future. I would reiterate that both Kauri Point and Whangaparaoa remain fit for purpose and do meet public safety expectations.

Yours sincerely

J. MATEPARAE
Lieutenant General
Chief of Defence Force