Rt Hon Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader
6 JUNE 2014

Health Ministry’s Prior Assurances Prove to Be Baseless

The admission today by the Ministry of Health that they did nothing about a tipoff about financial Irregularities at Te Roopu Taurima O Manukau is appalling, says New Zealand First.

“This is precisely the allegation we made about the organisation’s operational incompetence,” says New Zealand First Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters.

“The tipoff was made to the Ministry’s Fraud Hotline in December and they did not act on it. What then was the point of having a Fraud Hotline?

“Now the Ministry admits the mistake, after finally discovering it this week, and says it is correcting it by putting calls to another Fraud Hotline. How can that be any better?

“This has an acrid stench of a cover-up going on. That’s why New Zealand First wants the Auditor General to make an inquiry.

“At the first hint of any irregularity the Ministry should have had an audit surveillance team at Te Roopu.

“Instead, genuine and well-minded staff members risked their jobs, and lost them, to raise legitimate complaints. The Ministry did nothing and has done nothing to protect them,” says Mr Peters.

ENDS

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