Last night we gave you an overview of the very loaded and detailed Auditor General’s report on the Visa and Passport irregularities between 2011 and 2013. The two reports combined are 350 pages long, so yes, it is a lot of information to read, analyse and digest. But according to former Minister of Immigration Godwin Hulse, it shouldn’t be so shocking to read because, the way he puts it, there’s nothing new in the report since it was well known that these dubious nationality transactions were happening.
Today at another event, he told us that he would not go into any details until the reports are tabled at the house on Friday, but he did highlight all the rigid measures he has put in place to ensure these immigration scandals do not reoccur.
Hon. Godwin Hulse - Minister of Police
"Well first of all as you know more than a year and a half ago when I said in the Senate let the Auditor General do their work and they did their work. So the reports came out; the only thing I will say to start with is I understand the Auditor General did not comply with what would be a requirement to do a management letter to CEO and other people. I personally was never asked any question by the Auditor General not a question from any of their people so I can't comment on that. My understanding is that they didn't speak to the CEO of the ministry at the time but a part from that majority of the things that come out are things that we've heard, some of them we have seen from the Penner situation and some of the things that I myself have undertook to look into. But I won't comment on anything specifically until it goes to the house on Friday when it’s laid on the table and of course subsequently on Wednesday when it goes to the Senate."
"When I took charge of the ministry there was some changes we had to put in fundamentally and I want to highlight those. One was a Nationality Committee because we knew there was a lot of mess with nationalities. The other one was a Visa Vetting Committee because we also knew there was a lot of mess with visa; those are committees that are running and the third was a regularisation of the passport situation because we also knew there was a lot of mess with passport including Justices of the Peace signing and all sort of things so we put those things in place as a matter of some kind of control."
"No minister can sign a nationality unless it is passed by that committee. Before it is passed by that committee it is published; after it is passed by that committee it is published again, people go to a public swearing in. You have all been invited, people then take an oath, a commission of the Supreme Court signs the certificate in the presence of everybody there; that is a tremendous advance over to the days when Penner could sign a certificate and you can get it. Visas go to a Visa Vetting Committee which no minister can control. It’s made of CEOs and senior people and if they say no you never get your visa so those are some advancements."
As Hulse said the passport and visa application process is now rigid, involving a national committee and the publication of the names of all new citizens.
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