MBIE Confirms $50.7m Lost on Failed Immigration Biometrics Projects

MBIE chief executive Nic Blakely has told MPs that $50.7 million of taxpayer money was lost on failed Immigration New Zealand technology projects. RNZ

Blakely gave the figure at a select committee hearing on 22 September, the final sitting day of this parliamentary term. A select committee is a small group of MPs that checks the work of government agencies. He said the system had failed and can no longer be used.

The total has two parts. An amount of $42 million spent on the Biometric Capability Upgrade, or BCU, has been written off. A write-off means the money is accepted as lost. Ministers have been asked to write off a further $8.7 million for the linked In Person Enrolment, or IPE, project.

Blakely told the committee he takes responsibility as chief executive. He said both projects had finished before he started in the role. He said he would stay on to fix the mistakes.

The hearing also covered what MBIE will do next. Blakely said the ministry had reviewed 70 active technology projects since it last appeared before the committee. He said MBIE will now publish a public update on its technology projects every three months.

The wider point for scrutiny here is why that regular reporting matters. Quarterly updates would create a paper trail on cost, scope and delivery risk. That would let select committees track problems earlier, rather than waiting until a project fails. For a large agency like MBIE, which covers immigration, employment and business systems, that will test its internal checks.

The BCU was built to modernise identity checks for border security, such as fingerprints and face scans. It ran for seven years. It was cancelled in November 2025. Biometric Update

MBIE had earlier advised the loss was about $33 million. That advice 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 included.

A separate parliamentary report, published on 25 August, looked at how the failure was explained to MPs. It questioned why Mr Blakeley and Ms McDonald answered questions about a project for which they had no direct responsibility. Parliament Officials are expected to give evidence within their own knowledge and role. The report puts future chief executives on notice about who should front, and on what basis.

Other reporting around the case, given less weight than the dated record, said Blakely offered his resignation and Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche considered it would not be fair or proportionate to sack him. NZ Herald That fits with what Blakely told the 22 September hearing, 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 recommended, cannot be approved without ministers. Confirmation on the final sitting day means the next Parliament inherits both the cost and the fix. The test will be whether the 70-project review and quarterly reporting give MPs earlier warning than they had on BCU and IPE.