Citizenship for sale?

HAS the book finally been closed on the Peter Thiel saga? The Auditorgeneral’s decision not to hold an inquiry into the granting of citizenship to the US billionaire seems to be the last chapter, but the whole affair has left a bitter taste which will linger.

Mr Thiel was granted residency by the Labour Government in 2006. In 2011, under the Nationalled Government, he was granted citizenship by then Internal Affairs Minister Nathan Guy on the advice of officials, who had discretion under the Citizenship Act to grant citizenship if it was ‘‘in the public interest because of exceptional circumstances of a humanitarian or other nature relating to the applicant’’.

Mr Thiel’s name came to public attention in 2013, after then Prime Minister John Key was questioned in Parliament about intelligence and security matters and his relationship with Mr Thiel, whose US software company, Palantir, was providing data analysis to the Government. The case came to prominence in 2015 when Mr Thiel paid $13.5 million for a lifestyle block near Wanaka. It emerged Overseas Investment Office approval for sensitive land to foreign buyers was not required as he was a New Zealand citizen.

Further details emerged about the citizenship after pressure on the Government to release information.

After an investigation by the Ombudsman, it was subsequently revealed the billionaire had only spent 12 days in New Zealand, had no plans to live here and did not even come to the country for his citizenship ceremony. (Applicants must usually have spent 70% of five years in New Zealand to be considered for citizenship.)

The explanations from Mr Guy — and latterly Prime Minister Bill English — have been that Mr Thiel is ‘‘well connected’’, ‘‘a great ambassador and sales person for New Zealand’’ whose ‘‘investments’’ (millions in various companies and a $1 million donation to the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Fund) have contributed to the country, including after the global downturn.

The smell remained, though. Was it really special circumstances or special favours for the rich and powerful?

The Greens asked the Auditor general to investigate and the subsequent report — released this week — has found there was no wrongdoing as the Act provides the minister with ‘‘a broad discretion to grant citizenship in special cases’’ and ‘‘considerable flexibility on a casebycase basis’’. It also noted the case did not raise the ‘‘potentially serious systemic issues’’ of the 2008 Yang Liu case (whose citizenship was granted by then Associate Minister of Immigration Shane Jones).

That may settle the legality of the matter, but the ethical con cerns will not be so readily silenced.

Granting citizenship under the exceptional circumstances clause is exceptionally rare.

New Zealanders are fairminded people and would likely be supportive of cases granted under the ‘‘humanitarian’’ label. Of course they want talented and innovative gogetters too, who might bring in new business and create jobs. Mr Thiel was on the 2016 Forbes magazine rich list and most powerful people list and was a Donald Trump campaign donor and appointed to his transitional team. He is undoubtedly a highflyer.

If potential citizens have money, and won’t be a drain on the system, that is positive, of course, but wealth and influence alone cannot be the justification for immigration decisions; not when thousands of citizenships are being considered, with strict criteria applied. New Zealand passports should not be for sale — certainly not at the expense of other worthy candidates.

Perception is everything. There must be a level playing field that shows bribery and corruption are not the way we do business, and New Zealand cannot be sold to the highest bidder. Rather, this is an egalitarian country whose values are important and should be similarly embraced by those wishing to call New Zealand home.

Perhaps the ‘‘special circumstances’’ process needs to be readdressed or be made more transparent. For the silence from Mr Thiel and the secrecy from the Government over the deal has not done anyone any favours — particularly if Mr Thiel really is a great fit for New Zealand.