WHEN WILL THEY BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE?

The Minister for Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden has publicly declared she has no confidence in FENZ CE Kerry Gregory.

The Minister also raised with the Board her “concerns relating to the capability of other senior leaders within FENZ”.

The Minister’s declaration of no confidence in Kerry Gregory came as she publicly exposed that a matter relating to the administration of the Levy had been referred to the Serious Fraud Office. The Minister has written to the FENZ Board detailing her lack of confidence in Mr Gregory, but to date it appears the Board has not acted.

Mr Gregory was out of the country at the time, having represented FENZ at an international fire conference and then taking annual leave. It is understood he is back in New Zealand but is reported to be on pre-arranged annual leave, expected to work next week.

Yesterday, the Board Chair Raveen Jaduram sent an email to FENZ personnel stating that Mr Gregory’s annual leave had been extended until Monday 19 October: “The Board and I continue to engage with Kerry following the Minister’s letter expressing her lack of confidence in the Chief Executive.”

But there has been no word on holding other FENZ senior leadership to account, even though the Minister has expressed her concerns directly to the Board.

We have yet to see the letter from the Minister (OIA requests have been made), but the Minister has publicly declared her concerns when asked about specific members of the FENZ Executive Leadership Team.

Parliamentary records show Green MP Mike Davidson asked the Minister if she had confidence in FENZ’s Deputy Chief Executive Operational Response (Megan Stiffler), Deputy Chief Executive People (Janine Hearn), Deputy Chief Executive Corporate Services (Darryl Purdy), Deputy Chief Executive Prevention (Stephen Hunt), and the Acting Deputy Chief Executive Asset and Programme Delivery of Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Jim Stuart-Black).

The Minister’s response was: “My lack of confidence relates to the Chief Executive of FENZ. I do however have concerns relating to the capability of other senior leaders within FENZ and have raised this with the Board Chair.”

Mr Purdy is acting CE and Megan Stiffler is acting National Commander in Kerry Gregory’s absence. As Head of Corporate Services, Mr Purdy is akin to a CFO and the NZPFU would expect him to have at least knowledge of the issue referred to the Serious Fraud Office.

Kerry Gregory, Darryl Purdy, Megan Stiffler, and Jim Stuart-Black all appeared before the select committee, some a number of times, and the resulting Parliamentary Report was not only scathing of the failure to properly manage fleet maintenance and procurement, but also of the failure of FENZ to provide timely and accurate information to the Committee. The Committee did not believe some of the evidence provided and went as far as indicating FENZ had been deliberately misleading. The Committee was aghast that FENZ had spent approximately $375,000 on consultants and lawyers to lobby and put their case to the committee.

Their conduct would not meet any standard required or imposed on FENZ employees and volunteers – yet there does not seem to be any process in place to hold them accountable for that behaviour in that inquiry.

Green MP Mike Davidson pursued more detail on the issue that had resulted in the Minister declaring she had no confidence in Kerry Gregory.

The key points from the Minister’s answers to the questions about the Serious Fraud Office matter are:

• Chief Executive Kerry Gregory was formally advised of the issue on 2 September 2025. Chief Executive recalls he verbally advised the previous Board Chair Rebecca Keoghan. (The NZPFU notes that Kerry Gregory had been CE since 2022, so the question remains whether he knew, or should have known, earlier. There is also the question of who else in the ELT knew or ought to have known, including the DCE Corporate Services Darryl Purdy).
  
• 4 May 2026 – Chief Executive receives consolidated report from external lawyers (date it was received is unclear).
  
• 26 June 2026 – The FENZ Board considers the matter and directs further legal advice be sought.
  
• The current Board Chair Raveen Jaduram was informally advised on 3 July 2026 and fully briefed on 30 July 2026 as part of his first Board meeting.
  
• 30 July 2026 – The FENZ Board reconsiders the matter and directs that there be a referral to the Serious Fraud Office.
  
• 10 August 2026 – The matter was referred to the Serious Fraud Office. Note: neither the Department of Internal Affairs nor the Minister had been advised prior to the referral.
  
• 14 August 2026 – The Chief Executive briefs the Board Chair on external legal advice and the SFO.
  
• 2 September 2026 – The Chief Executive and Board Chair brief the Secretary for Internal Affairs.
  
• 4 September 2026 – The Minister of Internal Affairs is advised through a briefing note from the Chief Executive.
  

The matter referred to the Serious Fraud Office occurred prior to early 2021, and the Minister was advised the earliest estimated date is 2011.

“I am advised that an internal investigation was conducted between April 2022 and May 2026. Given the matter is now being considered by the Serious Fraud Office, I am unable to comment further.”

Kerry Gregory was appointed CE in April 2022. Prior to that, he was part of the Senior Leadership Team, was National Commander, and held other senior management roles. The question remains as to what he knew about the issue and the investigation that commenced in April 2022, and who else in FENZ knew?

When asked if the matter involved one individual, multiple individuals, or an organisational unit within Fire and Emergency New Zealand, the Minister responded she could not comment further with the matter referred to the Serious Fraud Office.

When asked whether any former employee of Fire and Emergency New Zealand was a subject of the Serious Fraud Office's consideration of the matter that relates to an incident with Fire and Emergency’s administration of the levy scheme, the Minister responded she could not comment further with the matter referred to the Serious Fraud Office.

There needs to be a complete clean-out of the Board and the Senior Leadership Team.

How can the public, the staff, and the volunteers have any confidence that they are competent, diligent, and undertake their duties to the required standard when senior leadership have been found to be at the least misleading? They have failed to properly manage the funding to ensure there is a reliable and fit-for-purpose fleet, which puts the safety of firefighters and the community they are responding to at an unnecessarily greater risk.

Members of Parliament across the political spectrum have been scathing in their commentary about the Board and senior leaders of FENZ.

The Minister described the serious fraud matter as a “serious breach” and stated that FENZ was “breaching their own law in regards to levy collections”, which she said was “despicable”.

In unity,
Wattie Watson
National Secretary