$50 Million of Taxpayer Money Wasted — What Happened?
MBIE boss Nic Blakely has told MPs that $50.7 million of taxpayer money was wasted on failed Immigration New Zealand computer systems. RNZ
He gave the figure at a select committee hearing on 22 September. That is a meeting where a small group of MPs questions public servants. It was the final sitting day of this parliamentary term. He said the system had failed and cannot be used.
The total is in two parts. An amount of $42 million spent on the Biometric Capability Upgrade, or BCU, has been written off. A further $8.7 million for the linked In Person Enrolment, or IPE, project is waiting for ministers to write off. A write-off is like paying for a renovation you cannot use — the money cannot be got back.
Blakely told the committee he takes responsibility as chief executive. He said both projects had ended before he started the job. He said he will stay on to fix the mistakes.
The hearing also looked at what happens next. Blakely said MBIE has checked 70 active technology projects since it last spoke to the committee. He said the ministry will publish a public update on those projects every three months.
The bigger picture for watching the spending here is why those updates matter. Regular updates give MPs a paper trail on cost and delays. That means they can spot trouble earlier, instead of learning about it after a failure.
The BCU was meant to update how identities are checked at the border, using fingerprints and face scans. It ran for seven years. It was cancelled in November 2025. Biometric Update
MBIE had earlier said the loss was about $33 million. That was set out in a ministerial statement on the Beehive website on 29 July. Beehive The 22 September figure lifts the loss to $50.7 million once the IPE costs are added.
A separate parliamentary report, published on 25 August, looked at how MPs were told about the failure. It asked why Mr Blakeley and Ms McDonald answered questions about a project they had no direct control over. Parliament The rules say officials should only speak about what they know from their own role.
Other reporting on the case, given less weight than the dated record, said Blakely offered to resign. It said Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche thought it would not be fair or proportionate to sack him. NZ Herald That fits with what Blakely said on 22 September, that he would stay to put things right.
The broader context here is accountability at the end of a term. A $42 million write-off, with another $8.7 million suggested, cannot go ahead without ministers. Because it was confirmed on the final sitting day, the next Parliament picks up both the bill and the fix.
