Editorial: Hiring 'Walter Mitty' figure beyond belief

Stephen Wilce. Photo / Supplied

It is not uncommon for job-hunters to succumb to temptation and doctor their curricula vitae.

Usually, this involves ratcheting up a university degree or overstating a former salary. When the job in question is run of the mill, no obvious harm may be done.

But when the position is one of seniority, revelations about bogus credentials are inevitably serious. Given that, the appointment of Stephen Wilce as head of the Defence Technology Agency seems barely believable.

Mr Wilce resigned this week after allegations that he falsified his CV. He had been the subject of an inquiry since a complaint from a whistleblower in July. For five years he had headed the agency, which advises the military and the Government on technology and scientific matters.

He held the highest level of security clearance and was responsible for 80 staff.

He was also, according to comments that he made to a reporter posing as a recruitment consultant, the holder of a distinguished military record with the Royal Marines and a member of the British Olympic bobsleigh team in the 1980s.

It is not apparent whether Mr Wilce made the same claims to the firm that recruited him for the Defence Technology Agency or during what should have been extensive vetting by the Security Intelligence Service. His resignation, however, carries its own commentary.

What is clear is that several former employers and people who have interviewed him in the past say his CV was littered with false claims. Indeed, in one company he was nicknamed "Walter Mitty".

The Defence Minister has conceded Mr Wilce had access to "reasonably sensitive information". Wayne Mapp said, however, that there was nothing to suggest anything classified had been leaked or misused. If so, this is down to good luck, rather than good management.

Even the mere fact of his employment on an allegedly falsified CV carried its risks. Anyone could have used knowledge of this to blackmail him. The way he allegedly got the job substantially accentuated the risk to this country's security and credibility.

Anyone who goes to such lengths to obtain a position is likely to be tempted into other disreputable acts.

Earlier this year, another senior public servant, Immigration Service head Mary Anne Thompson, was fined $10,000 and ordered to do 100 hours of community work for falsely claiming to hold a doctorate from the London School of Economics.

But she had already resigned from Immigration after helping members of her family to gain residency. Her behaviour underlines the need to treat falsified CVs seriously no matter how mundane or how senior the job.

The apprehension of such people is too often the result of whistleblowing by subordinates or media investigation. The allegations against Mr Wilce will, rightly, focus attention on the vetting procedures of both the SIS and the firm that recruited him.

Questions have been raised in the past about whether recruitment agencies are too intent on "selling" people, and whether they have sufficient research expertise.

Certainly, if some of Mr Wilce's more outrageous claims were in his CV, he should have been quickly found out. Having said that, Thompson's bogus doctorate passed muster in the Departments of Maori Affairs and the Prime Minister before she went to Immigration.

Clearly, more vigorous security and job vetting is required to prevent a repeat of such embarrassments.