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At the end of March, DJ Tessa Hills, known as Messie, won a competition to join British DJ Fred Again in Australia as part of his world tour. The only problem - she didn’t have a current passport.
Fred Again, who had just played sold-out shows in New Zealand, posted to his 2.5 million Instagram followers pleading for assistance to help get Hills an up-to-date passport, catching the eye of a Department of Internal Affairs senior leader.
Maria Robertson, deputy chief executive of service delivery and operations, said “a number of people” saw the post, including her son, a Fred Again fan.
UK DJ Fred Again performed in Wellington in March. Photo / Supplied
Robertson contacted Fred Again via Instagram direct message to let him know the matter was being looked at. She said she did not do anything to fast-track the woman’s passport, merely acknowledging her application and copying a colleague into an email.
Parts of the exchange between Fred Again and Robertson was posted by the British DJ on Instagram.
In the message, Robertson said Internal Affairs was “sorting” Hills’ application. DJ Messie received her passport soon after.
The matter, which was widely reported at the time, caused Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden to make inquiries.
The minister said it was not appropriate for officials to use their personal channels for official business and she wanted to check there had been “no undue influence” in the situation.
Fred Again posted to social media and received a message back from Maria Robertson of Internal Affairs.
“My expectation for every official dealing with passports is to not have their personal relationships affect their work. It is not appropriate for officials to use their personal channels for official business,” van Velden said at the time, whilst adding she was pleased Hills would receive her passport in time.
“My clear expectation is that the privacy of individuals applying for passports is upheld and not disclosed to other individuals and I intend to make that expectation extremely clear to the department,” she added.
The Department of Internal Affairs launched a review into the urgent granting of the passport, which found the application was processed appropriately.
However, the report found there were things DIA officials “could have managed better” and the fast-tracking gave the impression the DJ was getting special treatment.
Information released under the Official Information Act shows the review, undertaken by Wellington Public Sector consultancy company RDC Group, cost $50,800.
In a text message to Minister van Velden, DIA chief executive Paul James refers to the inquiry as a “light touch, independent look” to “provide assurance there has been no preferential treatment”.
The DIA said the $50,800 cost covered “actual hours worked and at a rate in accordance with the RDC Group’s All-of-Government contract”.
Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden. Photo / Mark Mitchell
In a statement, Department of Internal Affairs chief executive Paul James said, “public trust and confidence are paramount to the Department, especially in regard to the services we provide for New Zealanders”.
“The Report was commissioned to provide the necessary assurances that normal procedures were followed in the processing of the urgent passport application, to uphold the public trust and confidence we are committed to maintaining.
“The cost of the report was $50,800.00, which was paid out of the Department’s existing baseline. This work involved RDC Group reviewing a number of documents and policies and interviewing a number of staff.
“The RDC Group is an approved provider of services under the All-of-Government consultancy services panel. Doug Craig, Director of the RDC Group, is on the Public Services Commission’s panel of Reviewers and is an independent and external member of the Department’s Risk and Assurance Governance Board.”
Minister Brooke van Velden told the Herald the report was “worthwhile” and “completed within existing baselines for the Department”.
“The report found that the correct process was followed for processing the passport and no preferential treatment was given.”
“However, it did also find that there are areas for improvement for the Department such as protecting the privacy of individuals and use of social media.
“These recommendations will be implemented by the Department to ensure best practice is followed in their operational services.”
Ethan Manera is a multimedia journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 and is interested in politics, local issues and the public service. Ethan is always on the lookout for a story and can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz or messaged on X (formerly Twitter) @ethanjmanera
