One of New Zealand's most senior public servants is under
investigation by the police after serious concerns about the
qualifications she claimed to have had when applying for state
sector jobs.
Immigration boss Mary Anne Thompson resigned on Tuesday but that
has not stopped the crisis which appears to be building in her
department.
No-one was home at Thompson's house on Wednesday but her
whereabouts is just one of the mysteries in the story.
She has been a public service star over two decades, but who is the real Mary Anne Thompson?
The Immigration boss resigned following a ONE News investigation into how three of her extended family from Kiribati got New Zealand residency.
But it turns out there was more to the resignation. Police are now investigating after the public service watchdog, the State Services Commission, passed on serious concerns about the qualifications Thompson said she had when applying for senior state sector roles.
"Our senior public servants, their qualifications should be
beyond reproach and fully on record. So that is a worry," says
Lockwood Smith, National Immigration spokesman.
At issue is the widely reported claim Thompson has a doctorate from
the prestigious London School of Economics.
"Obviously that is a serious matter that the police should be asked
to investigate. But equally obviously, having got to the police,
it's inappropriate for me to make any further comment because
clearly there's the potential for charges to be laid," says Michael
Cullen, Deputy Prime Minister.
National says this is just another example of a department in
crisis, but the government says it's not up to ministers to check
CVs.
"I doubt for example the minister responsible for TVNZ checked that
your degree credentials were correct when you applied for the job.
That's not the minister's job to do that," Cullen, said to TVNZ
Political Editor Guyon Espiner.
It was put to Cullen that it is perhaps the minister's job to ensure that the department has good processes to check whether people are qualified.
"Well essentially that's a matter for the State Services
Commission," Cullen replied.
It's not the first time state sector CVs have been in the
spotlight.
Canadian John Davy was jailed for fraud after duping the Maori
Television Service about his CV.
If anything wrongdoing is proven about Mary Anne Thompson the
implications are serious. After all, fighting immigration fraud has
been one of the many jobs held by this public servant who has gone
from distinction to disgrace.
