NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Three more former CERA staffers investigated

Nicholas Jones
By Nicholas Jones
Investigative Reporter·NZ Herald·
11 Apr, 2017 11:29 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Andrew Kibblewhite, chief executive of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Photo/Mark Mitchell

Andrew Kibblewhite, chief executive of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Photo/Mark Mitchell

Three more former CERA staff members are under investigation after allegations of conflicts of interest.

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) chief executive Andrew Kibblewhite confirmed the investigations at an appearance before a Parliamentary committee today.

A report after an inquiry by former solicitor-general Michael Heron QC href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11836430" target="_blank">was released on Tuesday and found Gerard Gallagher and Simon Nikoloff had a clear conflict of interest when arranging property deals through their own private company.

Their actions have been referred to the Serious Fraud Office.

A third CERA staffer, Murray Cleverley, was a shareholder in the same company, but the report found no evidence that he was involved in its operations.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Today, Kibblewhite told the committee that allegations have been made about three other former CERA staff members, and the DPMC would investigate them.

Labour MPs repeatedly questioned Kibblewhite why the DPMC would not widen those investigations to see if there were other staff members with conflicts of interest.

Labour's Megan Woods, MP for Wigram, said such allegations were something rarely made in New Zealand and a wider "health check" was needed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"You are saying you will keep it to a shopping list of three. Why?"

Kibblewhite said the Heron report found there were not systemic issues and "at this stage we are following the evidence that we have".

After the committee hearing, Kibblewhite said his department always looked at how it could ensure the integrity of operations and staff.

"We are looking at specific allegations that have been raised. If they sort of lay down tracks that we need to follow further that is absolutely what we will do."

Discover more

New Zealand|politics

Time capsule at Parliament: what's inside

12 Apr 02:31 AM
Employment

Monitoring staff misconduct on Facebook

12 Apr 06:50 PM

Kibblewhite would not provide further detail about the allegations or employment of the former staff members, but did confirm they were not transferred from CERA to Otakaro, the agency now responsible for key projects in Christchurch.

"There have basically been some suggestions that have been put up by the individuals who have proven to have acted inappropriately."

The Finance and Expenditure Committee has agreed to call representatives of Otakaro to appear before it.

In his report, Heron found Nikoloff and Gallagher were using a private company, Project and Investment Ltd (PIML) to try make a business deal for personal gain.

The deal related to the same property and parties they were dealing with in their roles as CERA employees, and they did not disclose their personal interest to either the parties or their employer.

Gallagher and Nikoloff were both working with Otakaro when CERA was disestablished. An investigation by the chief executive of Otakaro found the two men had behaved in a similar way while employed there.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Gallagher and Nikoloff on Tuesday released a joint statement claiming CERA's legal and leadership team were fully aware of their outside business interests.

"Coming from a business background, we have pursued various business interests since before joining CERA, and these interests were fully disclosed to CERA.

"In fact, CERA hired us because they needed our extensive private business networks, knowledge and commercial expertise; expertise and connections that CERA did not have. They chose not to advise us there was a potential conflict. We acknowledge we should have declared what we were doing in writing."

They said they disclosed information of their private transactions to CERA's in-house lawyers and to their own lawyers, who also acted for CERA.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Business

Premium
Markets

Market close: Market leaders Infratil and Spark drive sharemarket higher

27 Jun 06:14 AM
Airlines

Spain court suspends huge Ryanair 'abusive practices' fine

27 Jun 05:33 AM
Airlines

Tinder for airlines: 'Matchmaker’ service created for sustainable aviation fuel

27 Jun 05:12 AM

Audi offers a sporty spin on city driving with the A3 Sportback and S3 Sportback

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

Premium
Market close: Market leaders Infratil and Spark drive sharemarket higher

Market close: Market leaders Infratil and Spark drive sharemarket higher

27 Jun 06:14 AM

New Zealand shares ended firmer after Infratil and Spark posted gains.

Spain court suspends huge Ryanair 'abusive practices' fine

Spain court suspends huge Ryanair 'abusive practices' fine

27 Jun 05:33 AM
Tinder for airlines: 'Matchmaker’ service created for sustainable aviation fuel

Tinder for airlines: 'Matchmaker’ service created for sustainable aviation fuel

27 Jun 05:12 AM
Premium
AI agents resort to blackmail, worse when under threat

AI agents resort to blackmail, worse when under threat

27 Jun 04:13 AM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP