Summarised by Centrist
Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says Fire and Emergency New Zealand kept a serious levy issue from her for a year, despite external advice that she should be told.
She says the organisation was “breaching their own law in regards to levy collections” and spent nearly $500,000 examining the matter without her knowledge.
Van Velden said board chair Raveen Jaduram eventually alerted her. She has declared she no longer has confidence in chief executive Kerry Gregory, describing the withholding of information as a “serious breach of trust”.
The Serious Fraud Office confirmed it received a referral from FENZ in August. “We are assessing the information provided,” a spokesperson said. It had not announced whether an inquiry or investigation would follow.
The precise levy breach, who was affected and its financial consequences were not explained in the reporting.
Separately, a parliamentary inquiry found sustained leadership and board failures over FENZ’s fire engine fleet. Trucks costing more than $1 million each had sat in storage for years while crews used ageing appliances.
The committee recommended considering whether FENZ should continue managing its own procurement.
Jaduram acknowledged shortcomings and apologised for inaccurate and untimely information provided to the committee. The board said it would consider the minister’s letter expressing no confidence in Gregory.
Read more at 1News here | here
Image: Smaugboy14
Re-published from the Centrist with permission
