KEY POINTS:
Prime Minister Helen Clark has ordered an independent inquiry into the Immigration Service, saying the Cabinet's confidence has been "somewhat shattered" by the scandals that have unfolded inside it.
Auditor-General Kevin Brady will conduct it, and he has been given a free hand to set terms of reference, order documents to be produced and question people under oath.
The former head of the service, Mary Anne Thompson, resigned last week after police were called in by the State Services Commission to investigate allegations that she had falsely claimed to hold a doctorate from the London School of Economics (LSE) when she applied for public service positions.
The LSE has told NZPA it has no record of a PhD in her name.
Before that it had been revealed Ms Thompson helped three of her relatives in Kiribati complete applications for residence permits.
An inquiry ordered by the Labour Department, which is responsible for the Immigration Service, discovered officials had been instructed to override policy when they handled the applications.
Ms Thompson was cleared of being involved in that, but it was then revealed that there had been 19 cases of theft, bribery and fraud within the Pacific branch between 2004 and 2007.
As a result, nine people resigned or were fired and three cases were referred to the police.
Helen Clark is obviously upset about how little she or her ministers knew about what was going on within the service.
"We feel we have been constantly blindsided by events and developments," she said.
"It's fair to say that the confidence of the Cabinet has been somewhat shattered. There are things that obviously never came to our attention."
Helen Clark said her ministers were never fully briefed and had been told that "employment issues" had been dealt with.
"I think ministers were put in a very difficult position," she said.
Ms Thompson held a senior position in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet before she went to the Immigration Service, and Miss Clark said she had never doubted her qualifications.
"I always assumed she had a PhD because the title was given as Dr Thompson," she said.
Helen Clark said she had not known until last week that former state services commissioner Michael Wintringham had known about the qualifications problem.
That is one of the things Mr Brady will investigate, because it appears Mr Wintringham decided to do nothing about it and did not tell ministers.
Mr Brady's inquiry will run alongside three other investigations which have already started:
* The police inquiry into Ms Thompson's qualifications;
* The State Services Commission's inquiry into the way the Department of Labour handled the situation; and
* The review of the Pacific branch ordered by the Department of Labour.
- NZPA
