Source: Radio New Zealand
Deputy Chief Executive Kylie Reiri resigned in February. (File photo) (RNZ / Teresa Cowie )
The Social Investment Agency is examining how it handles conflicts of interest as part of a review into millions of dollars of contracts awarded.
RNZ earlier revealed the agency had commissioned an independent external review of its procurement practices for contracts over $100,000.
The announcement followed the resignation of the deputy chief executive Kylie Reiri in February while under investigation in relation to allegations of bullying and harassment.
It also followed the resignation of former SIA chief executive Andrew Coster who quit in December following a scathing Independent Police Conduct Authority report.
Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz
The review was announced following an Official Information Act (OIA) request by RNZ about procurement practices at the agency.
In the OIA the SIA provided a table setting out all contracts with a value of over $100,000 that were initiated or maintained between January 2025 and March 2026.
The 13 contracts, which combined are worth nearly $7m, included work by Datacom, Potentia Wellington Limited, Chapman Tripp, Olympus Consulting Limited, First Stanza Limited, Deloitte Limited, Likemind Limited, Audit New Zealand and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Following further questions from RNZ, a SIA spokesperson said on Wednesday that internal procurement processes “including requirements for managing and declaring conflicts of interest, are being considered as part of the broader review of all contracts with a value exceeding $100,000”.
The SIA earlier said that 10 of the contracts related to work within the scope of the Deputy Chief Executive – Strategy and Performance and/or the Deputy Chief Executive – Technology, Transformation and Enabling Services roles.
“While this includes all contracts within those functional areas, not all of the contracts listed involved work commissioned or directed by the former Deputy Chief Executive.”
Lawyers acting for Reiri told RNZ on Friday she had no prior personal connection to providers that were contracted by SIA and therefore no conflicts to declare.
The lawyers earlier said that Reiri was not aware of any allegations relating to financial and procurement irregularities concerning herself or any other person.
“To the extent there are any allegations of this nature, these are false and denied.”
As part of the OIA RNZ also asked for a copy of all briefings, correspondence and reports in relation to investigations into Reiri.
“SIA has identified 63 documents within scope of your request. These documents relate to employment related processes and the internal consideration of allegations, including terms of reference, correspondence, and one email relating to alleged financial and procurement matters.
“The documents concern sensitive employment and internal matters and contain personal information. It is necessary for SIA to be able to manage employment issues and assess allegations effectively, including by enabling staff and other parties to communicate freely and candidly in the course of such processes.”
In an earlier OIA released to RNZ, the SIA confirmed there had been two employment investigations over the last 12 months.
“I am also able to confirm that there has been one investigation in response to four formal reports of bullying and harassment. In the interest of privacy, we cannot provide a breakdown as to what each allegation was concerning.”
RNZ understands the investigation, which is ongoing, relates to Reiri.
“As a responsible employer, SIA takes these matters seriously and all complaints are investigated and followed through to the end. We have robust policies and procedures to manage disclosure of any allegations including protected disclosures (speak safe) and bullying and harassment policies, which provide informal and formal options for staff to raise concerns of serious wrongdoing and bullying and harassment.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
