Charged employee stayed on full pay for five years; union links Ministry's problems to cuts
Senior leaders at the Ministry of Justice failed to challenge flawed internal legal advice that kept a charged employee suspended on full pay for five years, according to a review by the Public Service Commission (PSC).
The Rapid Performance Improvement Review, released on 12 November, found that leaders "appear to have been too easily accepting of initial decisions, rather than thinking about these strategically, and testing and questioning the fundamental premises of the advice they were receiving."
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith commissioned the review after concerns over the Ministry's handling of the employment of Russell Harrison, a former TVNZ presenter hired as a Family Court navigator in June 2021.
According to a chronology in the report, Harrison began work on 21 June 2021, was charged with money laundering and participation in an organised criminal group on 30 June, and was suspended on full pay on 7 July.
He remained suspended until he pleaded guilty to money laundering in June 2026, after which the ministry terminated his employment. The PSC estimated he collected between NZ$500,000 and NZ$550,000 in salary during that time.
Flawed internal advice
The review said there were "clear contractual grounds" in Harrison's employment contract to end his employment, and that a disciplinary process under employment law requires a far lower threshold than criminal law matters.
"Instead, Ministry leaders, for five years, accepted the flawed internal advice that proceeding with the employment issue could not occur until the criminal matters were resolved," the report said.
An external peer review commissioned by the Ministry later found that advice to be "plainly wrong," the report noted.
According to the PSC, senior leaders, including the Secretary for Justice and the chief operating officer, considered aspects of the suspension on multiple occasions. Its interviews "strongly suggested a preoccupation with process compliance and risk mitigation." rather than with the impact on the ministry's reputation and public trust.
"Despite the multiple occasions when managers raised the issue over the years, no one appears to have been prepared to proceed with the disciplinary pathway available. There also appears to have been no challenge to the initial internal advice," the review said.
It described this as "symptomatic of an internal culture based on risk avoidance, as opposed to risk management."
The review also heard that some lower-level managers had pushed for an earlier resolution but "appear not to have been able to influence the more senior leaders that discussed the case."
'Sobering and challenging insights'
Secretary for Justice Andrew Kibblewhite said in a statement that he accepted the review's findings and its 17 recommendations.
"The Review concludes that the way we work currently is not sustainable and I agree. As chief executive I accept the findings and I will ensure the recommendations are implemented," he said.
"These are sobering and challenging insights. I am committed to fronting them with the whole organisation and delivering the necessary changes," Kibblewhite added.
He also said the review "challenges us to be less hierarchical and defensive, more open to challenge and different perspectives, and clearer about how we manage rather than avoid risk, to ensure all our people feel safe to speak up."
The ministry had earlier committed to steps including strengthening access to specialist employment law advice and improving senior oversight of long-running employment matters. The PSC said these actions "provide a foundation" but that there was "further and deeper work to do."
Among its recommendations, the review called on the ministry to develop an executive team charter setting expectations for "constructive challenge, decision-making and accountability," to refresh its risk appetite settings, and to build trusted channels for staff to speak up, including anonymised options.
Union points to cuts
The Public Service Association (PSA) Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi said the issues raised in the review reflected the effects of the government's cuts to public services.
"This review paints a damning picture of the true effects of the government's indiscriminate cuts to essential public services," PSA national secretary Duane Leo said in a statement.
"The review illustrates the inadequacy of the Government's mantra of do more with less," he said.
The review found that the ministry's frontline operational capability was under "significant and sustained pressure."
It pointed to the District Court, where the judiciary and the Ministry had responded to rising caseloads by working harder and focusing on efficiency.
"Both approaches are now at or beyond what can be tolerated and sustained. There are real issues with both staff and judicial welfare and workload," the review said.
It added that "absent significant increased resourcing, current pressures are increasingly difficult to sustain."
The review did not directly assess the goovernment's public service cuts, but one interviewee linked staff reluctance to speak up with job cuts.
"It's just not obvious how to speak out about an opportunity for change. And the fear is, if you do, you'll be made to feel like you're the problem. That's scary, in a climate of headcount reduction," the interviewee said as quoted in the review.
In their own submission to the review, PSA members at the ministry said "headcount reductions through change management, attrition and vacancy lag and non-replacement have increased workloads."
The submission cited a PSA survey in March 2026, in which 63% of respondents working at the Ministry said it was not adequately staffed, compared with 17% who said it was.
Members described "increasing workloads, burnout and extended hours" across operational and corporate parts of the ministry.
"It couldn't be clearer. This review shows how badly flawed has been the Government's management of public services over the past three years," Leo said.
