After promising to answer questions by the end of Monday, Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche has still not addressed basic questions about his controversial decision to keep the Parliamentary liar Nic Blakeley as the boss at MBIE.

Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Jordan Williams said, “In an email on Friday Sir Brian committed to answering questions by the end of Monday. His office even asked us to communicate this commitment to transparency and publish it as an update on our website.

"We did so. But the deadline has come and gone.

"Roche's answers are bit like Blakeley's accountability: missing in action.

"The decision to keep Blakeley in his job has astounded political commentators with people rightly asking whether something is fishy. It is only proper for the Taxpayers' Union to ask for the timeline of events.

"This is now turning into a story about Sir Brian's judgement as much as Blakeley's fibs. And Sir Brian going to ground is not helping.

On Friday the Taxpayers’ Union asked Sir Brian to provide:

• the date and time at which Blakeley's resignation was offered;
• the date and time at which Sir Brian first became aware of the offer;
• the date and time at which Sir Brian decided not to accept it; and
• the date and time that decision was communicated to Mr Blakeley.

Shortly afterwards, Sir Brian emailed that he would respond 'on Monday'.

The letter to Sir Brian is available at https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/ltr_ssc_blakeley_deal.

The Taxpayers’ Union is demanding Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche front up over Nic Blakeley’s rejected resignation, after widespread speculation that Nic Blakeley offered his resignation knowing that it would not be accepted.

The Union has today written to Sir Brian seeking the communications and timeline surrounding Mr Blakeley’s offer to resign and Sir Brian’s decision not to accept it.

Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Jordan Williams said:

“We have reason to believe that, before Nic Blakeley tendered his resignation, it was communicated to him that it would not be accepted.

“We are calling on Sir Brian to clarify the situation and put the matter to bed.

“If Blakeley knew his resignation was going to be rejected before he offered it, then the whole thing was theatre.

“It would mean New Zealanders were presented with a carefully choreographed show of accountability when the outcome had already been stitched up.

“That would be nothing short of a ruse on taxpayers and the public.

“But there is a bigger question here too.

“How can New Zealanders have confidence in Sir Brian Roche to stand up for honesty and integrity across the public service when, faced with a chief executive who was party to Parliament being deliberately misled, he lets him off?

“If everything was above board, there should be no difficulty for Sir Brian fronting up and telling New Zealanders exactly what happened."

UPDATE:

Sir Brian Roche has responded with the following comments: 

If integrity, honesty, and accountability are to mean a thing in the public service, MBIE chief executive Nic Blakeley needs to go after he was found to have deliberately misled Parliament, says the Taxpayers’ Union.

Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Jordan Williams said:

“Nic Blakeley deliberately misled Parliament. In other words, he's a liar. For such an individual to remain chief executive of the country’s biggest department is untenable.”

“Short of fraud, it's difficult to think of a more serious breach of the honesty and integrity expected of a senior public servant.”

“By letting Blakeley stay, the Public Service Commissioner brings the whole public service into disgrace. It tells every department boss they can lie to Parliament and keep their job.”

“Sir Brian Roche's key job is to promote trust and integrity in the public sector. His recklessness in not accepting Blakeley's resignation calls into question his own suitability for the job."

"If knowingly misleading Parliament doesn’t warrant dismissal, what does?”

Responding to MBIE chief executive Nic Blakeley denying any attempt to mislead Parliament over the failed $35 million Biometric Capability Update project, Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Jordan Williams said:

“Claiming the project was 'commercially sensitive' is a slimy bureaucratic excuse for misleading MPs. If Mr Blakeley thought could not give the evidence publicly, he could easily have asked the Chair to give evidence in private or as secret evidence."

"Suggesting something is too commercially sensitive for MPs is not just arrogant, it demonstrates a total lack of understanding of who is boss in a Parliamentary democracy."

"But it also fails the sniff test. Ministers too were victims in what is starting to appear as an orchestrated campaign of lies and omissions by MBIE officials about this particular project. Any competent CEO would have wanted to be transparent and truthful, given the history of this matter."

“The fact remains that MPs asked about the project’s progress and were not told it had already been cancelled. The buck stops with Mr Blakeley who knew full well MPs were misled, and failed to immediately correct it."

“In comparable jurisdictions, misleading the legislature is treated very seriously. This is now a test of whether New Zealand’s institutions are prepared to hold the most senior public servants accountable."

“No one is suggesting Mr Blakeley should be sent to prison, which is technically within the powers of the Privileges Committee. But it is difficult to see how Blakeley can remain in his job if it is found that he mislead Parliament and breached Privlidge over his Ministery's $35 million failure.”