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A report looking into the role of an Immigration boss and a decision to grant New Zealand residency to her family members has been released by the Department of Labour.
The report found that the head of Immigration, Mary-Anne
Thompson, did not seek to influence the decision to grant her
family residency.
But it noted other staff felt pressured to push through the
application by senior officials.
The Immigration Service granted residency to four of Thompson's
relatives from Kiribati, against its own rules.
The Labour Department report has been released following a ONE News investigation into Thompson's involvement in her family members gaining residency.
The Department of Labour carried out an investigation into
Thompson's actions.
It found she did not directly influence the decision to give her
family residency but that she did break some rules in the
department's code of conduct by failing to tell her boss she was
helping her family get into New Zealand.
ONE News asked for the release of the report four months ago but the Department of Labour cited privacy and legal reasons for not granting the request.
Then on Saturday the National Party called for its release.
"This is serious, Immigration New Zealand is a serious department and at the moment its credibility is really in question," National Immigration spokesman Lockwood Smith told ONE News.
Smith said if the details of the investigation aren't released, the public will have a right to be suspicious.
The State Services Commission is looking at the way the Immigration Service investigated Thompson.
State Services Commissioner Mark Prebble said on Tuesday, while it was the responsibility of the then Immigration Service chief executive to do an internal investigation, it is appropriate for the State Services Commissioner to determine if it was done effectively.
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