The Department of Conservation spent $5,159 on two farewell gifts for outgoing boss Lou Sanson documents released this year show.

Sanson received a kauri carving, made by a Bay of Plenty-based carver, worth $4584, and a sperm whale tooth carving, worth $575, from Jade and Bone, the online shop of carvers Brian Flintoff, Clem Mellish and painter Robin Slow. Department of Conservation (DoC) current director deneral, Penny Nelson, said the gifts were approved by the department’s previous senior leadership team members, who have all moved on.

Sanson’s career at DoC spanned three decades, including a stint with Crown entity Antarctica New Zealand). He was DoC director general for eight years and retired in October 2021. The spending was recorded in January 2022; the details are in Annual Review documents for fiscal year 2021/22, released through the parliamentary select committee process.

Sanson said he “played no part” in approving or organising his Beehive-hosted farewell or the spending on the gifts. He said the event was held “some time” after his retirement to avoid Covid-19 restrictions on gatherings. “I had no idea of the value of the gifts and understood [they were] from staff and ministers,” Sanson said. Upon learning, through ZB Plus’ inquiries, that DoC paid the bill, Sanson said he offered to return the gifts to the department.

Mike Tully, DoC’s acting director general, said the department could not recoup the expenditure and is “not seeking the return of the gifts as they were carved for him [Sanson].” Then Conservation Minister, Labour’s Kiri Allan, presented Sanson with the gifts at a farewell gathering hosted at the Beehive, Sanson said, while previous Conservation Ministers, Eugenie Sage of the Green Party and National’s Nick Smith, made speeches.

Sanson said he believed the Māori carvings he was gifted were “to recognise the work I had done with iwi on Treaty settlements and the strong relationships I developed across Aotearoa”. The Annual Review documents state that the department’s 2021/22 policy on gift giving to staff stipulated that: “gifts should be reflective of the occasion or event and not be lavish or excessive.”

Public Service Commissioner, Peter Hughes, said, in his view, the spending on the gifts was “a totally inappropriate use of taxpayers’ funds”.

“It should not have happened. “As a result of this particular expenditure, the current director general of the Department of Conservation reviewed and tightened the agency’s policies on sensitive expenditure and gifts. That was the right thing to do,” Hughes said.

The Public Service Commision (PSC) has oversight of the core government agencies that make up the public service, including DoC. DoC’s updated policy recommends specific caps for spending on employee farewells and retirements. For 10 to 20 years of service it recommends a “funded team farewell morning or afternoon tea” to the value of $150 and a funded gift to the value of $150.

For 20 to 30 years of service it advises a funded farewell morning or afternoon tea to the value of $300 and a funded gift to the value of $250. And for more than 30 years of service it advises “farewell food to the value of $400 and a farewell gift to the value of $400”.

Nelson said two events were held to send off Sanson and paid for with public funds: a dinner at a restaurant in Hokitika, attended by 23 local people and costing $927.39; and a formal farewell at the Beehive, attended by about 90 people, which cost $2,818. Neither event included travel or accommodation costs.

The Government and Labour opposition a study in difference.

A promise to tame the ballooning cost of the public service, and what many see as its excesses, has become a political point of difference between the new Government coalition – as yet untested – and the previous Labour and Labour-led regimes.

Newly minted Minister for the Public Service, Nicola Willis, said she was “surprised and disappointed” at the spending on the gifts. “New Zealand taxpayers have a right to expect that public agencies treat their money with care and respect,” Willis said. She said she has written to Hughes to ask him whether additional guidance or clarifications for agencies is necessary, and to “advise me of his intended actions at the earliest opportunity”. Labour leader Chris Hipkins – on whose watch, as former Minister for the Public Service, the spending took place – took a more phlegmatic view.

“I think agencies acknowledging the contributions of long-serving staff members is fine, but it needs to be within the overall expectation that government agencies will act prudently with public funds. While I think the amount spent on this gift seems a bit high, it’s also not so high that I would expect any further intervention,” Hipkins said.

Public agencies’ policies differ

The PSC provides broad guidance on “sensitive expenditure” such as gift buying for staff, but it does not indicate spending limits, and, it appears, not all agencies do so in their policies.

The guidance states that such expenditure, even if small, “can raise concerns if it appears to be improper” and risks reputational damage to the organisation and the wider public sector. The PSC also directs public service agencies to the auditor general’s 2020 guide to public organisations on sensitive expenditure, including gifts.

This notes: “Expenditure on farewells and retirements should not be extravagant or inappropriate. The principle of moderate and conservative expenditure is particularly relevant.”

Ministry for Pacific Peoples

In August, the cost of gifts for the outgoing head of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples (MPP), Leauanae Laulu Mac Leauanae, made headlines.

A 2022 goodbye party for Leauanae cost the department more than $40,000. The price tag included $7500 for gifts, which included Samoan toga (woven mats) and a large Samoan siapo (a fine cloth made from bark), which together cost thousands of dollars, and a $980 gift voucher for the Kura Gallery in Wellington, which specialises in New Zealand artists.

Many of the gifts were from staff groups within the ministry. A PSC review of the spending found that it failed the “moderate and conservative” standards of the public service. Ultimately, Leauanae returned the gifts and reimbursed the public purse for various costs.