KEY POINTS:
In March 2006, Immigration Service head Mary Anne Thompson went public about an investigation into 92 cases of staff misconduct.
"The department does not tolerate wrongdoing and all our employees know that. We take allegations very seriously and investigate them all," she said.
The problems, she said, included
theft, undeclared criminal convictions and inappropriate processing of family member applications.
What Ms Thompson did not say was that in that same month residency applications which she had helped fill out for her relatives were approved, despite being lodged too late for the Kiribati quotas, and not meeting policies.
Ms Thompson also did not say she herself had been warned about conflicts of interest by her chief executive after she sought help in 2004 and 2005 for visa waivers to get family members from Kiribati into New Zealand.
A year later, that same chief executive, James Buwalda, discovered irregularities in the residency case and put it under the scrutiny of former justice secretary David Oughton.
In December 2004 and May 2005 Mary Anne Thompson sought help from immigration officers for relatives to travel to New Zealand on holiday. The relatives - including Kauri Katekeimoa, his wife and child - were given visa waivers, a process commonly only used in emergencies.
When former Buwalda discovered Thompson's involvement, he counselled her not to become involved in decision-making in matters concerning her own family because the process used had raised the perception of conflicts of interest.
Mr Katekeimoa then was granted a 12-month temporary working visa, due to expire in February 2006.
On 16 November 2005 three applications for residency arrived at Immigration NZ's Manukau branch, where staff were processing applications for the new Pacific Access Category quotas. The applications for Mr Katekeimoa's family included a form signed by Ms Thompson declaring her help in filling them out.
The applications were lodged nearly eight months after the March 31 closing date for applications under the quota system for Kiribati citizens, which had 75 places.
Three staff interviewed by former justice secretary David Oughton in his investigation said a senior Manukau official took the application to staff to be processed.
The first initially returned it, saying it was late and should not be considered.
However, in mid-December, the senior official and a staff member from National Office returned the file and instructed it to be entered. One officer wrote "as instructed by [the senior officer]" which Mr Oughton was told was an indication of strong disagreement with the direction.
A second staff member recalled being taken into a closed office and asked how a residency application which did not fit policy could be processed. After seeing the application, he/she advised it should not be dealt with because it was late.
The third staff member - who had responsibility for the Kiribati applications - also questioned the application, but was told senior officials had directed it be processed. The staffer continued with the processing, but Mr Oughton records he/she "was then and still is disturbed by the unfairness of it."
Residency for Mrs Thompson's family members was given in March 2006. It was not included as part of the Kiribati quota, nor in any other residency category and Mr Oughton said no other reasons for approval were recorded.
Later that year, an internal audit picked up on irregularities in the case and Mr Buwalda ordered the independent investigation. It was completed in April 2007 - by which stage Mr Buwalda had left - and found Ms Thompson had not tried to influence the process after signing the form. In April this year, Ms Thompson's role in the matter became public.
Mr Buwalda's successor, Department of Labour head Chris Blake, revealed the residency applications were given despite not qualifying under the policy, but that Ms Thompson was cleared of attempts to influence it. He refused to release the Oughton report for privacy reasons. He said the department took allegations of conflict of interest seriously, but the matter had been dealt with and "there is no basis for re-opening these particular investigations or conducting a new inquiry".
Two weeks later the Oughton report was released and revealed a Manukau staff member had been disciplined for ordering staff to override policies.
That officer did not have the power to make exceptions to normal residency policies; that is reserved for ministers or staff specifically delegated by the Minister.
The Oughton report decided Ms Thompson had not sought to influence the decision and had no involvement beyond helping with the forms and signing to show she had. Mr Oughton does not pass any judgment on whether he considered the signature alone had any influence.
The senior official who ordered it to be pushed through was unable to explain why it was processed in the way it was, but told Mr Oughton he/she: "rejects any suggestion that [the] decision to have the late application processed was in any way influenced by the Deputy Secretary's signature appearing on the form".
However, the staff who processed it had concerns.
Mr Oughton's report states the three staff were relieved the matter was being reviewed.
"They regard it as reflecting badly on them, their office, and the integrity of the residency permit system. They are not persuaded the application was not given special treatment because of [Ms Thompson's signature]."
Mr Oughton's report also shows belated acceptance from Ms Thompson that the power of her signature alone may have been enough to influence staff.
Public servants are governed by codes of conduct designed to prevent conflicts of interest.
In 2004 and early 2005 when Ms Thompson helped with the visa waivers, the Immigration Service code of conduct did not require employees to disclose potential conflicts of interest to their bosses.
However, a new code of conduct from November 2005 - the same month the applications were lodged - did contain such a requirement.
The code of conduct of the State Services Commission which sets out rules for all public servants says they should avoid circumstances in which their personal interests conflict with the interests of the department. "The public must have no basis on which to believe that decisions are made or policies are applied unevenly.
"Public servants should inform their chief executive where any actual or potential conflict of interest arises that impairs the full, effective and impartial discharge of their official duties."
THE State Services Commission is investigating all aspects of the case.
Immigration Minister Clayton Cosgrove said he had expressed concerns about it when he was first briefed last December. However, he did not become involved because employment matters were for department chief executives to deal with.
The Public Services Association welcomed the fresh inquiry, saying the matter had raised ethical and trust issues about the public service, and it was important trust was quickly restored.
National's immigration spokesman Lockwood Smith says key among these are allegations about the role of a figure from Immigration head office - where Ms Thompson works.
"If there is a person from National Office involved, as the staff are adamant there was, there is an even greater concern. While she herself may not have influenced it, was it done via someone close to her?"
He argues Ms Thompson was a very experienced public servant and must have been aware of the power of her signature.
MARY-ANNE THOMPSON
The 18-year public service career of Mary Anne Thompson has, until now, been heading upwards. She held high positions in Treasury, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and was a trusted adviser for National and Labour governments.
Ms Thompson, 53, joined the public service in 1990 after training as an economist, earning an MA in international economic policy from Victoria University and going on to do a PhD at the London School of Economics.
She was born in Wellington to Romanian refugees. Her links to Kiribati date back to the 1980s, when she lived there for about four years and met her current husband, Baerauti. She was a pop singer, known as "Nei Maryanne" - Miss Maryanne. When she returned in 2000 among Prime Minister Helen Clark's entourage for the Pacific Islands Forum, local radio was still playing her songs.
Ms Thompson returned to New Zealand in 1987 and worked for the Institute of Economic Research until 1990, when she became chief economist at the Ministry for Maori Affairs. She was seconded to work in the office of Winston Peters, then Minister of Maori Affairs.
In 1992, she left to work for Treasury where she became its highest ranking female official. She was seconded to the Office of Treaty Settlements and took on the job as the Crown's Chief Negotiator for the first Treaty of Waitangi settlement with Ngai Tahu. At the end of 1996 she was back with Winston Peters, this time as chief adviser for his new role as Treasurer.
In 1998, she moved to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, under Jenny Shipley. After Labour came to power in 1999 she headed the powerful policy advisory groupand was also the chief policy adviser behind foreshore and seabed legislation. She was among those tipped to take over as chief executive of DPMC in 2004. Instead she took the Department of Labour job she now holds - her title is deputy secretary, workforce.
Workmates are nonplussed by what has happened. The most common view in Wellington is she came under pressure wrought by the moral obligation for Pacific Island families to help their own.
The ultimate price of that signature remains to be seen.
