The total cost of Immigration New Zealand's failed technology upgrade has blown out to almost $40 million, after at least another $6 million in wasted spending was found this week. RNZ

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford released a statement on Wednesday with the new cost figures. This came after her own staff found an error in information the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) had previously given her. MBIE is the government department that runs immigration.

MBIE boss Nic Blakeley then told Stanford that another $6 million in project costs had turned up. Blakeley said he could not be sure that was the full amount, and decided to bring in an outside financial auditor to find out the true total.

Stanford had already told reporters that more than $30 million and seven years of work had been wasted on the upgrade, with nothing to show for it. The project was supposed to improve how Immigration NZ uses biometrics — things like fingerprints and facial scans to identify people.

This is not the first problem for the ministry. In June, an independent report found that immigration officials had deliberately kept information about the failed upgrade hidden. The report also said officials had used 'creative accounting' to avoid scrutiny over the spending. Scoop

Those findings led to a debate in Parliament on 23 June 2026. MPs on the Education and Workforce Committee, who handle immigration matters, are responsible for looking into the issue. Hansard

At the end of June, Stanford said her confidence in the ministry had been 'knocked'. Her tone has got tougher since then. She told reporters her trust in the information officials give her had been severely damaged and was getting worse. She said the latest findings raised serious questions about how MBIE manages its money.

Stanford has now sent the matter to the Public Service Commissioner, who oversees government departments. She has also referred it to the Michael Heron inquiry, which is already looking into the failed upgrade. Stanford said the commissioner would consider whether that inquiry needs to look at a wider range of issues.

Stanford would not say whether she still had confidence in Blakeley as MBIE's boss.

NZ First leader Winston Peters called the news a 'shocker' and said people should lose their jobs over it.

The broader context here is that a minister and her own officials are now openly at odds over whether the department can even get its numbers right. By sending the matter to the Public Service Commissioner and the Heron inquiry at the same time, the government has signalled it no longer trusts MBIE to sort this out on its own. The fact that Blakeley himself called in an outside auditor also suggests the department cannot say for sure how much has been spent over the life of the project.

In New Zealand's political system, a minister saying publicly that her trust in officials is 'severely damaged' — and then refusing to back her chief executive — is a very direct warning. What happens next depends on two things: whether the Public Service Commissioner widens the inquiry, and what the outside audit finds about the full cost. Those results will decide whether this stays a costly mistake or turns into something much bigger for the public service.