Fire and Emergency NZ chief executive Kerry Gregory has resigned.
FENZ board chairman Raveen Jaduram announced the departure this afternoon in a statement.
"On behalf of the Board of Fire and Emergency New Zealand, I wish to advise that Kerry Gregory has today advised us that he has resigned, effective immediately, from his role as Chief Executive of Fire and Emergency," Jaduram said.
"Mr Gregory says that, in the light of of the Minister of Internal Affairs’ recent public statement that she did not have confidence in him, it has become untenable for him to remain in his role."
Gregory had been on extended leave after Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden last month said she no longer had confidence in his role as chief executive.
Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden said FENZ chief executive Kerry Gregory withheld information. (Source: 1News)
"I have informed the board chair of Fire and Emergency that I do not have confidence in the chief executive of FENZ, Kerry Gregory," van Velden said in a statement at the time.
"The chief executive withheld information from me about a serious matter which has now been referred to the Serious Fraud Office. The chief executive was aware of the issue for over a year and did not inform me about it, even after being given external advice that FENZ needed to. From here, it is a question for the FENZ Board about what they will do to restore my confidence."
'A litany of issues'
Van Velden pointed to a "litany of issues" across her term as minister, including bargaining levy modelling, payroll, fleet procurement and back-office savings.
"I have been holding them accountable on behalf of levy payers," she said. "The difference in this case is the active withholding of information. This is about public accountability, and that is not possible if the minister is kept in the dark."
A damning report accused Fire and Emergency NZ of "hiding the truth" by repeatedly providing wrong answers to questions from a Parliamentary Committee.
"We were concerned by answers that were wrong. Mistakes can happen, but more concerning has been the perception created that FENZ is hiding from the truth or hiding the truth from this committee," the report stated.
"There is some kind of cultural block which is stopping direct answers being given. We believe FENZ officials when they say they want to do the right thing, and that they are not deliberately trying to hide the truth. However, this appears to have manifested as a repeated pattern of trying to make the organisation look like it is performing well, rather than answering direct questions well."
Today, Jaduram said the board "wishes to acknowledge and thank Mr Gregory for his 36 years of dedicated service, including a very lengthy period as an operational firefighter, and wishes him well for the future".
Darry Purdy remained as acting chief executive and Megan Stiffler as national commander following Gregory's decision to step down.
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