'There is a rot' - Stanford expresses confidence in Blakeley to fix MBIE

*This article has been corrected to clarify that this is the first time Blakeley offered his resignation and not the second time.The ministry chief executive found in contempt for misleading Parliament over a multi-million-dollar IT project has offered his resignation, but it has been rejected.The Privileges Committee - which rules on and can recommend punishments for rule-breaking at Parliament - has found Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) chief executive Nic Blakeley and former Immigration NZ head Alison McDonald deliberately misled Parliament.But the committee did not recommend further sanctions - saying essentially that the finding of contempt "will be of sufficient consequence on their own".The Public Service Commissioner confirmed Blakeley had recently offered his resignation."Accountability is fixing what went wrong. Mr Blakeley is responsible for ensuring the failures identified by the committee are addressed. I will hold him accountable for delivering that work - there is no misunderstanding on that point," Commissioner Brian Roche said."The committee also said in its report, which is yet to be debated by Parliament, that they didn't recommend any further sanction."Immigration Minister Erica Stanford had previously refused to say Blakeley had her confidence, but she had now changed tack."As it stands, I have confidence in Nic Blakeley, but I want to make it clear that, of course, a report is still pending and so we'll see what happens."I'm not downplaying the report. It was very, very serious. But at this stage, I have confidence in him to turn this around to make sure it never happens again."Asked what had led her to express confidence in him now, she said it was because there were "a whole lot of things in MBIE that need to change"."There is a rot, and he has committed to make sure that he is going to ensure this never happens again."The Public Service Commissioner has commissioned a detailed inquiry being carried out by Michael Heron KC.Finance Minister Nicola Willis said the report findings from the Privileges Committee were "very serious indeed and demonstrate unacceptable conduct".However, Blakeley had "acknowledged and fully apologised" for that."I note that the Privileges Committee did not recommend further sanction. I also note that the Public Services Commission had a resignation offered by Nic Blakeley which they didn't accept given he'd only been in the role six weeks at the time of this."Like Stanford, Willis also said she would not prejudge the findings of the independent investigation into the matter of the IT project, being carried out by Michael Heron KC on behalf of the commission.Roche similarly said the position highlighted by the Privileges Committee was "completely unacceptable and must not happen again - all chief executives are now very clear on that expectation"."Mr Blakeley was only six weeks into the chief executive role when this occurred. That does not excuse what happened, but they are factors I considered in reaching my decision about his position," he said.Party leaders respondNational's leader and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon pointed to the Privileges ruling."That said he'd been in the role for a very short period of time, had been advised poorly by his officials ... and he also fairly admitted, you know, upfront. So I think I'm going to leave it with the privileged committee."He refused to engage with questions about where the line should be drawn on how long someone needed to have been in the job before facing consequences, saying that was "best left to the Privileges Committee".Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the situation was "incredibly disappointing"."Parliament does have a role to ensure that we are acting as a watchdog on those who are administering funds on behalf of the government, taking action on behalf of the government. It's clear that you know they haven't done what they should have been doing in the situation."I'm really disappointed at the lack of accountability here. It's happened across multiple governments, and it is right that they are being held to account for that."He stopped short of calling for further punishment."I think the finding in itself will send quite a few reverberations through the public sector, and I think that will be a good thing."Greens co-leader Marama Davidson said it was "absolutely unacceptable that Ministers and MPs were kept in the dark about the status of the biometric data project and the fact that that biometric information could be shared on with the US."She said it was important that officials "take accountability and own up and be responsible" for misleadings Parliament, but also said the finding of contempt "will be of huge consequence".ACT's leader David Seymour said Parliament was the representative of the people, "so if you lie to Parliament you're not lying to people like me, you're lying to all the people who pay taxes and vote".He said whether Blakeley should remain in his job was ultimately up to Willis as the responsible minister, but when asked if the public deserved better from a public servant paid more than $600,000 a year said "most people tell the truth for a lot less money than that".