Investigation: Cabinet paper on fair pay agreements accidentally leaked from Oranga Tamariki to union rep

A highly confidential Cabinet paper relating to the repeal of fair pay agreements was leaked by accident to a union representative by an Oranga Tamariki staffer, an investigation has found.

The investigation, led by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), found the document - which included a fairly scathing assessment of what repeal would mean for people on low incomes, women, Māori, Pacific people, and young people - was sent to Oranga Tamariki and 19 other agencies as part of the standard Cabinet process.

Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden told the Herald the document was then sent on by a staffer to a “national organiser of a union”. Van Velden wouldn’t name the union.

This was confirmed by Minister for Children Karen Chhour who said in a statement the staffer had emailed the document “in error” to an “outside source”.

The document was subsequently leaked to media and reported on in early December.

Chhour’s statement said the union source who received the document had assured Oranga Tamariki that the email was deleted.

The Herald has asked for further clarification on how it was leaked to media if the email was deleted.

“I have been assured by Oranga Tamariki chief executive Chappie Te Kani that the person responsible has been spoken to,” Chhour said.

“While mistakes do happen, this is disappointing. I understand Oranga Tamariki staff will be reminded about the importance of information security.”

Te Kani said in a statement he was disappointed and apologised for what he believed to be a “genuine mistake”. He claimed there was no evidence the staffer sent the email or its attachments to the media.

He also said staff were being reminded of their obligations regarding such documents.

Oranga Tamariki chief executive Chappie Te Kani (right) apologised for what he believed to be a genuine mistake. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Van Velden, who was confident MBIE staff had acted appropriately, said she was satisfied with the investigation and didn’t believe any further action was necessary.

However, she did express concern about how widely sensitive Cabinet documents were being sent across the public service.

“I’m not satisfied that it did necessarily need to go to all of those agencies, but that’s more of a question of the overall Cabinet paper process,” she said.

“I’m hopeful that in the coming years of this Government, we will sit down and query who needs access to information at what time because it doesn’t seem entirely appropriate to me that it needed to be sent to so many agencies.”

The document, reported first by Newshub and then by the Herald, addressed the repeal of fair pay agreements, which were legislated under Labour to allow sector-wide collective bargaining.

Six employment sectors including the likes of bus drivers and supermarket workers had successfully applied to begin negotiating a fair pay agreement, however, none were able to be concluded before the legislation was repealed by the coalition Government in late December.

The paper, taken to Cabinet by van Velden in December, included warnings about how certain groups might be impacted by the repeal.

“Disabled people experience significant disadvantage in the labour market, which includes earning less than non-disabled employees,” it read.

“Given these populations are disproportionately represented in workforces where there are lower employment terms, they could have disproportionately benefited from any improved terms obtained by an FPA,” the paper said, noting that this would depend on whether those people actually worked in a sector covered by an FPA.

Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden is concerned Cabinet documents could be spread too widely. Photo / Mark Mitchell

However, the paper also described FPAs as a “blunt tool” that van Velden did not think would be successful in “improving employer terms for these groups”.

MBIE began an investigation once the leak was made public. It concluded before Christmas and shared its findings with van Velden as the relevant minister.

Asked why she didn’t make the findings public sooner, van Velden said she “did expect that a journalist who is interested may come calling”.

Van Velden wouldn’t give her view on whether the staffer should face consequences, saying that was a matter for Oranga Tamariki.

She did however question why the information needed to be sent to 20 agencies.

According to van Velden, standard Cabinet protocol required all such papers to be sent to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Treasury and the Public Service Commission.

Other agencies were sent documents based on merit. The argument to send the paper to Oranga Tamariki was because repeal could have an impact on “child well-being”, according to van Velden.

“The reason why I think it may have gone too widely in this particular instance is the fair pay agreements deal with employment matters, specifically collective bargaining against a business bargainer rather than being directly children-related.”

Van Velden said she raised her concerns with State Services Minister Nicola Willis. Van Velden said she believed Willis shared her concern while also acknowledging the standard process of forming such documents.

Van Velden emphasised how most public servants treated sensitive information appropriately but that it was “important for different Government agencies to be on their guard” to ensure trust in the public service.

In a statement, Willis said: “Decisions about how widely Cabinet papers are distributed sit with agencies and they are expected to exercise good judgement in making those decisions.”

State Services Minister Nicola Willis says agencies are expected to exercise good judgement when distributing sensitive information. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Te Kani said in his statement he had spoken with officials from MBIE and the Public Service Commission to assure them Oranga Tamariki was “putting steps in place to ensure mistakes like this are not repeated”.

It’s one of several leaks the new Government had faced. Last week, a Ministry of Justice document detailing how Act’s Treaty Principles Bill could be contentious was leaked with a section shared online by Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi.

In a statement today, Ministry of Justice chief executive Andrew Kibblewhite said the document was a draft paper seeking to include the bill in the legislative programme for 2024. He said the document had had a “limited distribution” within the Ministry of Justice and a “small number of other Government agencies”, which he did not name.

“We are incredibly disappointed that this has happened. Ministers need to be able to trust that briefing papers are treated with utmost confidentiality, and we will be investigating the leak as a priority,” he said.

The statement said the ministry was “leading” the investigation but a ministry spokesman would specify whether other ministries or agencies were involved.

Days after the FPA leak was reported, the Herald revealed it had been leaked a confidential paper from Treasury outlining how the Government has quietly suspended regulatory impact analyses for some proposals in its 100-day plan, meaning they would not go through the proper process before becoming law.

In November, Stuff was leaked a message from then-chief executive and secretary of foreign affairs and trade Chris Seed about his decision to “remove te reo headings from the submission templates” during the period of coalition negotiations.

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.