New beginnings and clearing house - the ongoing dispute surrounding We Are Indigo, Manaaki and Callaghan Innovation

But wait, there are a couple things to tidy up from last year.?

What we have to tidy up is what we are going to do with the debacle and dispute that We Are Indigo and Manaaki has been in with Callaghan Innovation around a Government RFP that we entered into at the beginning of 2022.?

A simple no with an RFP would have been easy and accepted.?

An RFP with that simple no spiralled out of control to something much more. Post the ‘no’ there was a maelstrom of OIAs, social media, media, anonymous gmail leaking and a whole bunch of threads that clearly stated, recommended and led to people believing we were very bad people who deserved to lose that RFP and effectively be out of business.?

With all that reputation damage, there was still light, and hope with some parties doing their own due diligence and committing to working with us. Yay! You don’t know how appreciated it is when people stand up for you, with you. Thank you to those people, but we also understand for those that left and we hold no malice to them.?

But back to this maelstrom - what remains from 2022 is our belief that our rights were ignored, that we were unfairly treated. We have continued to engage with a range of Government entities to request that Callaghan’s actions should be reviewed. We have also taken advice from an amazing legal team.?

Two people have written extensively about their observations. Debra Hall has completed fourteen blogs with some guest commentary from her forensic partner, Peter Hall. If you would like to learn more about what they have found, I have created a summary with links to their blogs - check it out here . If you want to read the last blog, a summary, read it here - it summarises their perspectives from these last few months.?

The Halls said??

“The reports are written in extremely emotive language and the evidence presented in the reports does not, in many cases, support the allegations.? There are what appear to be falsehoods and inflammatory representations. I am not a lawyer, but I would have thought that the defamation aspect is a significant concern for Callaghan – particularly given how widespread the distribution of the reports has been and the apparent lack of action by Callaghan to defuse the situation.? The allegations are extremely serious and are causing significant damage.? And so many of them appear to be false.”

And they continued?

“The reports were prepared by what appears to be a conflicted investigator, who did not declare his prior knowledge.? EY were engaged to review the due diligence process, but the scope was set to exclude conflicts of interest and report content.? They did NOT, as some are claiming, “independently validate and verify” the findings or conclusions of the report.? As well, EY stated that We Are Indigo should have been given the opportunity to respond.”

The Halls concluded simply that Callaghan Innovation could take action, if they could find the basis for seeking resolution, rather than continuing to deny any issue and maintain they are a best practice organisation and the place where talent wants to be. They said:?

Callaghan Innovation – You are the only ones who can fix this.

• Admit that the investigator was conflicted.
• State unequivocally that the due diligence reports, commissioned under the confidentiality of a government procurement process, should never have been shared around.
• Make it clear that you are upset and angry (are you?) at the way the reports continue to be leaked.
• Clarify that the EY review did not verify any of the allegations.
• Officially withdraw the due diligence reports, and apologise for the harm they have caused.
• And clarify the rights that Government Organisations have to share a respondent’s confidential information obtained in RFPs to other Government bodies, given how serious an implication this might have for tenderers moving forward.??

Whether Callaghan Innovation will see it this way, time will tell.?

Whether any other Government Agency will see it this way, time will tell.?

Separately, as part of reflecting on last year's saga, I have also written some thoughts - you can read my commentary here . Warning, they are Hammy style ie long!

We have also pursued a few other strategies and will continue to stand up for our reputation, with honour as we look to get this resolved so we can move on.?

We have much to be hopeful for, but more importantly we have much that our community and whanau expect of us and we want to get busy supporting that need.

So yes, a new year creates the opportunity and need for new beginnings, and we have one hand on this, while in the background we keep trying to clear house!?

New beginnings and tidying house - the theme for 2023!

Andy Hamilton?