Appointments — Independent Police Conduct Authority

on behalf of the Minister of Justice: I move, That, pursuant to section 5 of the Independent Police Conduct Authority Act 1988 and section 32 of the Crown Entities Act 2004, this House recommends His Excellency the Governor-General reappoints Dianne Mary Macaskill and appoints Simon Murdoch CNZM each as members of the Independent Police Conduct Authority, for terms of 3 years. I moved that pursuant to section 5 of the Independent Police Conduct Authority Act 1988 and section 32 of the Crown Entities Act 2004, this House recommends to His Excellency the Governor-General the reappointment of Ms Dianne Macaskill and appoints Simon Murdoch CNZM as part-time members of the Independent Police Conduct Authority, each for a term of 3 years. The authority is chaired by Judge Sir David Carruthers. The other two current members, Ms Angela Hauk-Willis and Ms Macaskill, both completed their first term with the authority in August 2013 and remain in office under carry-over provisions. There is also an unfilled vacancy on the authority following the departure of Mr Richard Woods in early 2013. Given that Ms Hauk-Willis and Ms Macaskill have now each served on the authority for 5 years, the Government favours making one reappointment to retain experience and maintain continuity, and appointing a new part-time member. This provides an opportunity to enhance the authority’s strategic planning capabilities. I would at this point like to acknowledge the contribution that Ms Hauk-Willis has made throughout her time with the authority.

Ms Macaskill is an independent contractor at D.M. Macaskill. She is the vice-president of the Pacific regional branch of the International Council on Archives, an audit committee member at the International Council on Archives, and a member of the internal audit committee at the Ministry of Education. Ms Macaskill is the former chief executive and chief archivist at Archives New Zealand from 2001-08, and a former Deputy Government Statistician at Statistics New Zealand from 1996-2001.

Mr Murdoch joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1972 and served in postings to Canberra and Washington. He became Chief Executive of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in 1991 and was appointed as Chief Executive and Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2002. Since retirement in 2009 he has undertaken a range of public sector reviews and consulting roles. With these appointments, the authority will have the range of management and governance experience required by a Crown entity board.

Labour supports the reappointment of Dianne Macaskill and the appointment of Simon Murdoch as members of the Independent Police Conduct Authority. The Independent Police Conduct Authority is an important body. It is Parliament’s and the public’s watchdog over the police to ensure that the police always meet the standards that we properly expect of them. The role of the body is to receive complaints against the police. It investigates incidents involving death and serious bodily harm as a result of police actions, and it monitors the conditions of detention and treatment of detainees in police custody.

The word “independent” has been deliberately written into the title of the authority. In fact, that was happening at the point that I was Minister of Justice between 1999 and 2005. It is important to emphasise the independence of this authority both from the Government and from the New Zealand Police. It provides assurance both to the police and to the general public. Its members, therefore, are accountable to this Parliament for the use of taxpayer funding, and the appointments to this body are made by the Governor-General on the recommendation of Parliament, rather than the executive wing of Government.

The conditions governing the operation of the authority and the quality of the membership of the authority are really important to ensure that public trust and confidence in the police is ongoing. I need to say that I think that we are very fortunate in New Zealand to have a police force that, by and large, maintains the qualities of integrity and professionalism that we expect of the police in this country. This is a country that respects the rule of law and the upholding of individual rights.

The chair of the authority is always a judicial figure, and the chair since, I think, about 2012 has been Sir David Carruthers as a judge of the District Court. He is a man whom I have worked with for many years and a person whom I have total confidence in, a person who is widely respected.

Equally, the two members whose appointments we are now considering before the House are high-quality nominees. Dianne Macaskill was the Deputy Government Statistician from 1996 to 2001. She then went on to be chief executive of Archives New Zealand from 2001 to 2009. She is a specialist in strategic leadership and in general and information management. She has also been a member of the audit and assurance committee for the Ministry of Education. She is recommended for reappointment for a further 3 years, and Labour supports that appointment.

The new member recommended for appointment is Simon Murdoch. Both as an MP and as a Minister, I have worked with Simon Murdoch for many years in a range of capacities in which he has acted. I first knew him as the head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet under a National Government, and that was a role that I think he carried out with extraordinary competence. He then went on to be New Zealand’s High Commissioner in Australia—again, a role that he performed with distinction—and for much of the time that I was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, he was the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, through from I think about 2002 to 2009. Working with him, I found him to be highly professional and a dedicated civil servant, who performed competently and with integrity. He was respected by both those who worked for him and those whom he worked for. On behalf of the Labour Party I have no hesitation in supporting the recommendation that he should be appointed as an Independent Police Conduct Authority member.

In conclusion, these nominees are people whom I believe can be relied upon to provide the independent oversight to ensure we have a disciplined, accountable, non-corrupt, and non-politicised police force that maintains public trust and confidence. I support the recommendations.

I am pleased to speak on behalf of the Greens in support of this motion to reappoint one person and appoint a new person to the Independent Police Conduct Authority. The question of who will guard the guards themselves—who watches the watchmen—is one that has echoed down through many centuries, and it is a serious and important question to ask.

The police force does have extraordinary powers. It has coercive powers. We entrust it with authority far beyond that which the normal citizen—I was going to say “enjoys”, but “possesses” is perhaps a better word. It is important for that reason that we do have an oversight body, and, critically, an oversight body that is independent, that reports directly to Parliament, and that is not in any way compromised in the way that some other oversight organisations may be.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority, I think, has a good history. It has done a good job, for the most part. I think we take for granted in New Zealand that we are largely free of corruption in the Public Service in this country, and I think in the police force, of all entities and State agencies, keeping corruption out of that arena is absolutely critical. Clearly, the Independent Police Conduct Authority does have a role in that, as well as the functions described by Mr Goff.

In cases where there have been shootings or deaths involving police action or intervention, it is critical we have that independent oversight to ensure that the right thing has been done and to ensure that where things have gone wrong, we take lessons from that and ensure that there is no repeat of those things.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority also has an important role as part of the national preventative mechanism—that is to say, involved in the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. It has a very important role there in ensuring that our places of detention are managed in a humane and proper fashion and that people’s rights are respected while they are in detention, and I know that the Independent Police Conduct Authority takes that part of its brief very seriously and actively engages in that.

I think we are very fortunate in the leadership of the Independent Police Conduct Authority. Judge Sir David Carruthers—I think I have got the honorifics in the right order—is not only a highly skilled and effective judicial officer, but he also brings some personal quality to the role. He is an extremely engaging person. He is genuinely a leader, and I think we are fortunate to have him in that role.

I am pleased to see the reappointment of Dianne Macaskill. She has, again, a varied and impressive CV as an archivist, a statistician, and an expert in strategic management. She has that role on the basis of her quality, of her experience, and of her capacity.

I also point to the fact that I think it is important we also have at least one woman—that we have gender balance, to the extent we can, on that body. The Greens exercise that in our leadership roles, and I think it is important that we have that representation at the senior levels of all of these public agencies that have roles as guardians and as oversight bodies for the various functions of Government.

The new appointment, Simon Murdoch, again has a very impressive CV as a diplomat and as a public servant in many roles. We do wish him well in this new appointment and, as I said, we are pleased to support the nomination.

Motion agreed to.

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