Controller update: July to December 2018
1 April 2019: Most government spending for the first six months of 2018/19 has been properly authorised and is within the law. However, we have confirmed two instances that were not properly authorised.
Inquiry into procurement of work by Westland District Council at Franz Josef
March 2019: This report concerns a decision of the Westland District Council to carry out work at Franz Josef to protect the town's wastewater treatment plant from flooding. The work was carried out on an urgent basis and resulted in the construction of a new 700-metres-long stopbank on the bank of the Waiho River. In this report, we acknowledge the serious nature of the flood risk the Council was dealing with, and the motivation of the elected members who were driving the decision to act in the community's best interests. However, we have serious concerns about what was done in this case.
Letter to Parliamentary Service about party and member support funding
21 February 2019: On 4 December 2018, the Auditor-General received a request to look into claims that a staff member in Hon Maggie Barry’s office was asked to carry out political party work during work hours. We have written to Parliamentary Service with our response...
Tertiary Education Institutions: Changes to the requirements for performance reporting in annual reports
February 2019: Recent changes to the Education Act 1989 require tertiary education institutes' statement of service performance (SSP) for 2019 to comply with generally accepted accounting practice. In this letter we discuss the upcoming changes to SSP requirements for tertiary education institutes' annual reports, provide some guidance on performance reporting, and recommend next steps for further information and support.
Comments on local government funding and financing issues paper
18 February 2019: The Productivity Commission has released an issues paper that will inform an inquiry into local government funding and financing. This letter provides written comments from the Office of the Auditor-General.
Matters arising from our audits of the 2018-28 long-term plans
February 2019: This report sets out the main findings and observations from our audits of local authorities’ 2018-28 long-term plans (LTPs).
Submission on safeguarding the future of our financial system: The role of the Reserve Bank and how it should be governed
14 February 2019: As part of phase 2 of the Reserve Bank Act Review, the Treasury has issued a consultation document which looks at the financial policy framework for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and how it should evolve. This letter is our written submission.
Report to the Council: Additional assurance work on travel expenses, redundancy and severance payments
January 2019: Audit New Zealand (a business unit of the Controller and Auditor-General) was asked by the chairman of Waikato Institute of Technology to carry out additional assurance work in conjunction with the 2017 annual audit. This report sets out Audit New Zealand's findings about certain travel expenses and redundancy and severance payments.
