KEY POINTS:
Heat is building on the Department of Labour's chief executive, Chris Blake, over the latest Immigration Service disclosures.
The Prime Minister and Immigration Minister both claim to have been taken by surprise by revelations in the Oughton report and a later investigation into a key appointment to the
Pacific Division.
Yesterday, Immigration Minister Clayton Cosgrove said he had not known about a 2005 Buddle Findlay report into a potential conflict of interest by Pacific Division head Mai Malaulau until last Friday, the day before Television New Zealand ran a story based on it.
"That is the first time I knew about that and I was surprised."
It followed frustration from Helen Clark on Monday about the adequacy of the department's briefings to ministers, which partly prompted her to call for the Auditor-General's investigation into the department.
Mr Cosgrove has also repeatedly claimed Mr Blake did not tell him about wider concerns about the Pacific Division voiced in the Oughton report, when briefing him on it in December.
The report investigated help that former Immigration boss Mary Anne Thompson gave relatives to get residency in New Zealand.
Mr Blake is the third successive head of the Labour Department to have dealt with the Oughton report.
Yesterday a spokeswoman for Mr Cosgrove said he retained confidence in Mr Blake, who was appointed to head the Department of Labour late last year.
Mr Blake had acted quickly after finding out about the Oughton report by speaking to the State Services Commission and getting legal advice on whether he could reopen the investigation.
He had also moved quickly to begin a review of the Pacific Division.
A Department of Labour spokesman said Mr Blake would not comment on the issue of the briefings to ministers. Mr Blake is the latest of three chief executives to have briefed Immigration Ministers over the Oughton report - and yesterday in Parliament Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen said all had claimed it was an employment issue.
Neither former Immigration Minister David Cunliffe nor Mr Cosgrove were told about the wider findings into practices in the Pacific Division during the briefings.
Yesterday National again tackled the Government over the string of embarrassing revelations, claiming even the most incompetent minister must have heard alarm bells ringing over the Oughton report and asked more questions.
National leader John Key also questioned whether the Prime Minister, "who is known for her love of gossip", had not asked why Ms Thompson had pulled out from applying to be chief executive of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Ms Thompson is under police investigation for allegations she doctored her CV to apply for the head job within the department.
Helen Clark said she could not interfere in staffing issues, but the Government had asked for the Auditor-General's report because it was "tired of being blindsided around the issues of Ms Thompson and the Immigration Service".
Yesterday Ms Thompson's lawyer issued a statement saying her client welcomed the Auditor-General's inquiry.
She would co-operate fully with it and looked forward to all the information being tabled.
