At least $35 million of taxpayer money was spent on an Immigration New Zealand computer project that was eventually stopped in 2025. The minister in charge says officials knew the project was in trouble but kept that information from her.

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said her officials "deliberately withheld" information from both her and the previous government about the failing project, called the Biometric Capability Upgrade, or BCU. Stanford released documents to RNZ that she would normally keep secret, saying the public had a right to know what happened (RNZ).

The Immigration department is part of a bigger government department called the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment, or MBIE. The computer system the BCU project was supposed to replace was built back in 2012 (NZ Herald). In March 2024, officials asked Stanford to increase the project's funding from $35 million to $40 million (NZ Herald). The $35 million figure matters because that is the point at which government computer projects have to be checked by Cabinet — the group of senior government ministers who run the country. Below that amount, a government department can approve the spending on its own (NZ Herald).

How the deception unfolded

Stanford's advisor Kara Isaac put together a timeline covering 21 February to 30 April 2024. It shows officials kept giving the minister written updates saying everything was fine, while outside reviews of the project told a very different story.

On 19 March 2024, officials told the minister the project was "achievable" and the approach was "sound and robust." Just nine days later, on 28 March, the minister's office finally got hold of the full outside review reports. Those reports said the reviewers had "doubts as to whether the project will in fact deliver at all" and questioned whether it should continue.

Stanford's office had asked five times for the full review reports. It took six days for officials to hand over just two of them.

The problem came to light bit by bit. On 25 March, during a meeting, officials admitted verbally that an earlier review had been "damning." That same day, Isaac contacted acting boss Nic Blakely to formally raise that the minister had been given misleading advice.

In a private meeting on 28 March 2024, Stanford raised "concerning significant discrepancies" with Blakely. She was told the issue would be raised with chief executive Carolyn Tremain when she returned from leave (RNZ).

Investigation underway

Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche has appointed lawyer Michael Heron KC to investigate "integrity concerns" at Immigration NZ over the BCU project (RNZ).

The investigation will look at whether officials met the standards expected of public servants when they briefed the minister and the previous government. Stanford's decision to release documents she would normally keep secret shows how seriously she takes public accountability for what happened.

What this means

The case raises questions about the $35 million threshold that sends government IT projects to Cabinet. That threshold is meant to be a safety check, but here it looks like the project was kept at exactly that amount, perhaps to avoid Cabinet scrutiny. Officials only asked for more money, pushing past the threshold, after the project had already spent $35 million.

The documents Stanford released describe a pattern where written advice to the minister said one thing while outside reviews said the opposite. The nine-day gap between being told the project was "achievable" and learning that reviewers doubted it would "deliver at all" is at the heart of the investigation. The basic duty of public servants is to give ministers honest and complete advice. The decision to bring in a King's Counsel — a senior lawyer — rather than handle it internally shows how seriously the allegations are being taken.

The BCU project was stopped in 2025. The old system it was meant to replace, built in 2012, is still running.