As a result of its recommendations, the government is planning to allow Crown research institute Niwa to absorb state-owned enterprise MetService.
Transtasman government and industry consultants Sapere were appointed by Treasury and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment in mid-2023 to carry out Project Hau Nuku.
The aim of the review was to provide recommendations for a new-look public forecasting agency as climate change becomes more problematic, and also solve the overlap caused by Niwa’s unilateral decision 11 years ago to compete with the MetService.
According to MBIE, Sapere was also involved in work in 2021 to bring together publicly funded science organisations in a common location, efforts which led to the $450 million Wellington Science City proposal, scrapped in February this year by new Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins.
Ironically, it was the angry reaction by the MetService in December 2022 to the science city panel’s coaxings that it move in with Niwa at its Greta Point, Wellington, offices that sparked the Hau Nuku review.
MetService chief executive Stephen Hunt told then state-owned enterprises minister David Clark he was pulling the organisation out of its "voluntary and peripheral involvement" in science city, and expressed frustration that the panel would make recommendations on the MetService’s location without consulting its board or the minister.
Within a week, Dr Clark took action and initiated the review to sort out the MetService-Niwa duplication, which several of his predecessors had ignored for years.
Finally, on September 26 this year, Ms Collins said, as a consequence of the review, the government had agreed in principle that Niwa should "acquire" MetService.
The timetable for that is still unclear but the amalgamation, viewed by some as more of a takeover, could be complete by the middle of next year.
MBIE general manager of entity performance and investment Michael Bird said Sapere was paid $121,615 for its work on the initial stages of what became the Wellington Science City idea.
It had been selected from the government’s consultants list after it was decided tendering was not viable "given the urgency and small size of the contract".
The original estimate for the work had been $70,000, but that was exceeded by $51,615 due to the extra engagement needed, he said.
With Project Hau Nuku, requests for quotes were sent to government consultants in July 2023. Three proposals were received and a panel selected Sapere, which was paid $320,495 for the review.
That was less than budgeted for, Mr Bird said, although he did not say what that figure was.
Four Official Information Act requests to State-owned Enterprises Minister Paul Goldsmith, Ms Collins, the MetService and Niwa, asking for details of the review process, the subsequent discussions between government and agencies, and for a copy of the MetService submission, have been extended by officials.
The requests were made on September 26.
The MetService is understood to have made a long and comprehensive submission to the review team.
Niwa says it did not make a written submission.
Asked why not, chief executive John Morgan replied: "The review process didn’t require a written submission."
— Paul Gorman
