SIS vetting under microscope

Wilce resigned after a <i>60 Minutes</i> documentary revealed his extravagant claims. Photo / 60 Minutes

Prime Minister John Key is expected to take action on Monday over the Security Intelligence Service's apparent failure to identify Stephen Wilce's alleged dishonesty.

The spy agency took no action to remove Mr Wilce during his five years as this country's top military scientist, yet an Auckland yacht club exposed him as a fantasist within a few months.

Mr Wilce resigned this week as head of the Defence Technology Agency as TV3's 60 Minutes reported he made extravagant claims about his professional, military and sporting achievements. The Defence Force is investigating Mr Wilce.

Yesterday, questions were raised over how thoroughly the Security Intelligence Service (SIS) investigated Mr Wilce's background before granting him the top security clearance required for his job.

Responding to questions about the SIS's work in vetting Mr Wilce, a spokesman for Mr Key - who is the minister responsible for the agency - said the Prime Minister had sought advice from State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie which he would consider over the weekend.

"He expects to be in a position to indicate next steps on Monday."

Earlier, Mr Key told 3 News that "basic reference checks" were not the SIS's job.

"Their responsibility is to gather information that might be relevant in terms of the security clearance of the individual.

"It's not actually checking what's written down on his CV is necessarily accurate."

Green Party MP Keith Locke said Mr Key's comment "seems a bit odd when they are dealing with someone moving into a top security job".

"By contrast, the SIS was always very interested in my CV, and my file shows they talked to employers about me."

A spokesman for the SIS said the agency was unable to answer any questions relating to Mr Wilce "for privacy reasons" and "it would be inappropriate at this stage for NZSIS to make any comment" on other questions regarding the agency's vetting procedures.

However, while the SIS failed to find sufficient reason to deny Mr Wilce access to New Zealand's top military secrets, a decade earlier his employment as manager of the Royal NZ Yacht Squadron ended quickly after members challenged his claims that he had played rugby at test level.

A former member said: "We got rid of him or asked him to leave because a lot of discrepancies came up."

Another yacht squadron source said Mr Wilce had claimed to have played for Wales against the All Blacks, but left the club after being challenged on the claim.

Peter Hay, who was the squadron's commodore at the time, said he couldn't recall the details of Mr Wilce's departure, which was within a relatively short time after he started in 1996.

Intelligence and strategy analyst Paul Buchanan said Mr Wilce's appointment reflected poorly on the SIS, its then-director Richard Woods, and Helen Clark, who was Prime Minister at the time.

"The bottom line is that the SIS failed to vet Mr Wilce in a manner appropriate for a high-ranking official with top-level security clearances.

"Not a good look all round. And the person responsible for all of this at the time was Mr Woods, countersigned by Helen Clark."

Meanwhile, employment consultants Momentum, which recruited Mr Wilce five years ago for the defence job, said yesterday that it had now decided against trying to track down the employee responsible for the appointment.

"We've decided not to do that because this is more about confidence in the quality of our systems and processes," said managing director Bede Ashby.

"Given that the matter is subject to an inquiry by the Ministry of Defence, we'll just be co-operating fully with them."