The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE; ) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with "delivering policy, services, advice and regulation to support business growth".
MBIE is the New Zealand Government's lead microeconomic agency and one of its largest government departments. In 2024/25, it employed more than 5,800 full-time-equivalent staff across 40 offices in New Zealand and overseas, and had responsibilities spanning 19 ministerial portfolios and 17 regulatory systems. Its areas of responsibility include immigration, tourism, construction, energy, communications, natural resources, regional development and government procurement.
History Formed on 1 July 2012, MBIE is a merger of the Department of Building and Housing (DBH), the Department of Labour (DoL), the Ministry of Economic Development (MED), and the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MSI). The government said the merger was intended to improve coordination between the agencies, reduce duplication and make it easier for business to engage with the government.
The Ministry was responsible for the Pike River Recovery Agency from 31 January 2018 to 1 July 2022.
In October 2018, the newly created Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) assumed several of MBIE's housing policy, funding and regulatory functions including the KiwiBuild programme, the Community Housing Regulatory Authority, and administration of funding for the HomeStart, Welcome Home Loans, the legacy Social Housing Fund and Community Group Housing programmes.
On 14 July 2020, the Ministry assumed responsibility for running the New Zealand Government's COVID-19 managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) programme. The last four MIQ facilities closed in June 2022.
In October 2023, RNZ reported that MBIE had a secret intelligence unit focusing on immigration, intelligence and operational matters. It drew criticism from the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand for using tools from Israeli surveillance firm Cobwebs Technologies to scour the social media accounts of prospective immigrants. In April 2024, the Ministry chose not to renew its contract with Cobwebs for undisclosed reasons.
By April 2024, MBIE had laid off 286 employees as part of Government cost-cutting measures in the public sector. 111 resigned in the first wave of voluntary redundancies while 175 full-time roles were disestablished between December 2023 and March 2024.
In mid-February 2025, the Crown Research Institute Callaghan Innovation announced that its funding and grant services and the Health Tech Activator would be transferred to MBIE. The New Zealand Government had earlier in January 2025 announced plans to dissolve Callaghan Innovation and replace the various Crown Research Institutes with four new Public Research Organisations by 1 July 2025.
In mid-June 2026, the Minister of Immigration Erica Stanford criticised MBIE and Immigration New Zealand officials for allegedly misleading her and her predecessors Kris Faafoi and Andrew Little about the failed NZ$33 million Immigration Biometric Upgrade project, which ran between November 2018 and November 2025 without delivering anything. Stanford alleged that MBIE officials used "creative accounting" to avoid scrutiny from the New Zealand Cabinet and misled Crown ministers about the cost and progress of the project. In response, the Public Service Commission and MBIE launched separate investigations into the Immigration Biometric Upgrade Project and another similar IT upgrade project called "Our Future Services." On 26 August, the New Zealand Parliament's Privileges Committee found the Ministry's chief executive Nick Blakeley and former Immigration New Zealand head Alison McDonald in contempt of Parliament for failing to disclose that the biometric upgrade project had been cancelled during a meeting with the Education and Workforce select committee in March 2026. By late September 2026, Blakely acknowledged that MBIE had spent NZ$50.7 million in taxpayer funding on the botched biometric upgrade project.
Structure Senior Leadership Chief Executive and Secretary (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) Deputy Secretary – Labour, Science and Enterprise Deputy Secretary – Corporate and Digital Shared Services Deputy Secretary – Immigration Deputy Secretary – Regional Development and Commercial Services Deputy Secretary – Strategy and Assurance Deputy Secretary – Building, Resources and Markets Deputy Secretary – Te Whakatairanga Service Delivery Chief Advisor to the Secretary
Operational functions The Ministry manages a number of operational services, including: Building Practitioners Board Building Systems Performance Business.govt.nz Companies Office, which also manages registers for: motor-vehicle traders financial-service providers societies and trusts personal-property securities Consumer Protection (formerly the Ministry of Consumer Affairs) Electrical Workers Registration Board Employment New Zealand Government procurement Immigration Advisers Authority Immigration New Zealand Insolvency and Trustee Service Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand Major events Māori Economic Development, including partnership with the independent Māori Economic Development Panel and partnering in He kai kei aku ringa (HKKAR – providing the food you need with your own hands) – the Māori Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan "MI": a secret intelligence unit focusing on immigration, intelligence and operational matters. Motor Vehicle Traders Register New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals Natural Hazards Research Platform (NHRP) New Zealand Cycle Trail New Zealand Space Agency Personal Property Securities Register Provincial Growth Fund Radio Spectrum Management Registrar of Unions Resolution Services Standards New Zealand State Housing Appeals Authority Strategic Science Investment Fund (SSIF) Tenancy Services Trading Services Vision Mātauranga (indigenous knowledge policy) Weathertight Services
Monitoring functions The ministry is the monitor of the following Crown entities, Crown research institutes, statutory boards and non-listed companies. +NameEntity typeAccident Compensation CorporationCrown entityAccreditation CouncilCrown entityAgResearch LimitedCrown research instituteBuilding Practitioners BoardStatutory bodyCallaghan InnovationCrown entityChartered Professional Engineers CouncilStatutory bodyCommerce CommissionIndependent Crown entityCrown Infrastructure Partners LimitedPublic Finance Act 1989 Schedule 4A non-listed companyEducation New ZealandCrown entityElectrical Workers Registration BoardStatutory bodyElectricity AuthorityIndependent Crown entityEnergy Efficiency and Conservation AuthorityCrown entityEngineering Associates Registration BoardStatutory bodyInstitute of Environmental Science and Research LimitedCrown research instituteExternal Reporting BoardIndependent Crown entityFinancial Markets AuthorityCrown entityInstitute of Geological and Nuclear Science Limited (GNS Science)Crown research instituteLandcare Research New Zealand Limited (Manaaki Whenua)Crown research instituteNational Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Limited (NIWA)Crown research instituteNew Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research LimitedCrown research instituteNew Zealand Forest Research Institute Limited (Scion)Crown research instituteNew Zealand Registered Architects BoardStatutory bodyNew Zealand Tourism BoardCrown entityNew Zealand Trade and EnterpriseCrown entityNew Zealand Growth Capital Partners (formerly New Zealand Venture Investment Fund)Crown entity companyPlumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers BoardStatutory bodyREANNZ (Research & Education Advanced Network NZ Ltd)Crown entityTakeovers PanelIndependent Crown entityTe Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement CommissionCrown entityTertiary Education CommissionCrown entityWorkSafe New ZealandCrown entity
Ministers The Ministry serves 21 portfolios, 16 ministers and 2 parliamentary under-secretaries. Officeholder Portfolios Other responsibilities Hon Nicola Willis Lead Minister (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment)Minister for Economic Growth Hon Chris Bishop Minister of HousingMinister for Infrastructure Hon Erica Stanford Minister of Immigration Hon Paul Goldsmith Minister for Media and CommunicationsMinister for the Public ServiceMinister for Space Hon Louise Upston Minister for Social Development and EmploymentMinister for Tourism and Hospitality Hon Todd McClayMinister for Trade and InvestmentHon Tama PotakaAssociate Minister of Housing Hon Simon Watts Minister for EnergyMinister for Building and Construction Minister for AucklandHon Penny Simmonds Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology Associate Minister for Social Development and EmploymentHon Scott Simpson Minister for ACC Hon Cameron Brewer Minister of Commerce and Consumer AffairsMinister for Small Business and Manufacturing Hon James Meager Minister for the South Island Hon Brooke van Velden Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Hon Shane Jones Minister for Regional DevelopmentMinister for Resources Associate Minister for Energy Hon Casey Costello Associate Minister of ImmigrationHon Mark PattersonAssociate Minister for Regional DevelopmentSimon CourtParliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister for InfrastructureJenny MarcroftParliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister for Media and Communications
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