Where Do our Tax Dollars Go: A Case Study (Part 1)

Note: This is my lived experience. I have evidence of everything I will be sharing. I am sharing this because I know there will be people who recognise parts of this, and others who have lived through the same sequence without ever being able to say it out loud. If that is you, I hope this helps you find your voice, knowing someone else has stood here too.

I joined the Department of Internal Affairs in Wellington in a leadership role expected to deliver billions of dollars in savings for taxpayers. The day was 13 January 2025.

During the recruitment process, I was told I was the preferred candidate. I was also told the role would be secure for ten years. The programme had that level of funding and long-term ministerial commitment behind it.

In my second week in the role, someone who reported to me said,
“You have my job.”

He had applied for the same role as an internal candidate and was unsuccessful.

At the time, I took it as a moment. Someone had gone through the process, invested in the outcome, and missed out. It felt human. It felt understandable.

I was wrong.

Over the weeks that followed, that sentiment moved beyond that moment. It travelled from a conversation into the corridor, and from there onto the floor. He interrupted me in meetings every time I spoke, often before I could complete a sentence. He challenged decisions the moment I made them, sometimes without context, sometimes simply because they were mine. When I responded with clarity and facts, he spoke over me.

He cut others off mid-sentence. He dismissed contributions before they could be heard. He acted as though he was the authority in the room because he had been there longer.

At my desk, he stood over me while I was seated. He spoke in a way that made it clear this was not a private disagreement. Most of the time, it happened within earshot of others.

At the same time, meetings within my area went ahead without me. He attended them without informing me, even when I was supposed to be there. Decisions were made and work moved forward without my visibility, while the accountability for delivery remained with me.

That is a difficult position to hold. You are responsible for outcomes you cannot fully see, expected to deliver work you cannot fully direct, and measured on decisions you are not always part of.

I followed the processes available to me. I raised concerns with my manager and with HR. I provided evidence, including emails and specific examples of what was happening. I was told it would be handled informally, yet the behaviour continued.

By that point, the cost was already visible. Time was being spent managing behaviour instead of delivering work. Meetings went in circles. Decisions were slowed down or redirected or stalled. Work that should have moved forward did not.

Six months after my joining, I was placed on an extended leave which would last for nine months, without fair and just process. 

...this is just the beginning.

Watch this space for how this developed into the termination of my employment on 31 March 2026.