Summarised by Centrist
MBIE chief executive Nic Blakeley chaired the governance group that approved continuing a failed biometric IT project, despite later describing himself as not “closely involved”. He subsequently accepted responsibility after his ministry deliberately misled Parliament about its status.
The Biometric Capability Upgrade was intended to modernise Immigration New Zealand’s identity-management systems. Its estimated cost grew from $19.49 million in 2018 to more than $50 million before it was cancelled without delivering a working system.
Blakeley joined MBIE in July 2023 and entered the Immigration Systems Governance Group within four months. Documents obtained by Stuff show he sometimes chaired its meetings.
The project was paused in November 2023 following delivery failures, quality problems and rising costs. An independent review found it “unlikely” to succeed, but supported completing the next testing stage before deciding whether to close it.
A month later, Blakeley chaired the meeting that approved continuing the project to assess its performance before seeking further Cabinet funding.
Blakeley subsequently told Newstalk ZB he knew the project was troubled but played down his role.
“I wasn’t closely involved in this,” he said.
Documents show he later received emails about the minister’s anger over another funding request, helped brief the group on discussions with Erica Stanford and remained involved as it considered further spending.
In 2025, the group approved another $5.78 million to make the system viable. Blakeley was copied into the approving emails and later agreed to reallocate funding so the project could be cancelled.
Parliament’s Privileges Committee found MBIE deliberately misled MPs after Blakeley and former Immigration NZ deputy secretary Alison McDonald failed to disclose that the project had already been terminated. Blakeley accepted responsibility.
Stanford says her office was never specifically advised of Blakeley’s governance role.
Re-published from the Centrist with permission
