MBIE's failure to disclose axed $35m project to MPs was an informal 'understanding,' not a recorded decision

MBIE chief Nic Blakeley told a parliamentary committee he did not deliberately hide the cancelled $35m biometrics project from MPs in March. He said it rested on an informal understanding with then-Immigration NZ head Alison McDonald. Speaker Gerry Brownlee referred the matter after Labour's Phil Twyford raised it as a possible contempt of Parliament. Blakeley said MBIE could have requested a closed session instead.