Appointments — Independent Police Conduct Authority, Chairperson

I move, That under sections 5 and 5A of the Independent Police Conduct Authority Act 1988 and section 32 of the Crown Entities Act 2004, this House recommend to Her Excellency the Governor-General the appointment of Associate High Court Judge Kenneth Johnston KC as Chairperson of the Independent Police Conduct Authority for a term of five years commencing on 1 May 2023.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority’s important function is to investigate complaints alleging any misconduct or neglect of duty by a member of the police or concerning any practice, policy, or procedure of the police affecting the complainant. The authority is also responsible for investigating any incident involving serious bodily harm or death notification to the authority by the Commissioner of Police.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority is the only official New Zealand Police oversight body and, as such, it’s important that its work is led by the people of the highest calibre. The term of the authority’s present chairperson, Judge Colin Doherty, expired on 29 August 2022. However, his appointment remained in force under carry-over provisions. Judge Doherty did not seek reappointment for a further term, but agreed to continue in office to oversee the completion of several high-profile investigations. I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank him for his work over a significant period of time. His contribution was certainly received gratefully by us all.

This brings me to the appointment of Associate Judge Kenneth Johnston KC. Associate Judge Johnston was appointed to the High Court bench in early 2018. He practised as a barrister from 2007 to 2018, and was made King’s Counsel in 2016. The majority of his early career was with MinterEllisonRuddWatts, including seven years as managing partner. He has experience as chair of the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal and deputy chair of the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal.

Associate Judge Johnston has experience in criminal work as both a prosecutor and defence counsel in jury and appellate trials and in civil work, including general civil and commercial litigation, trusts and estates, construction, employment, family, and professional disciplinary litigation. His overall experience in governance, investigatory, disciplinary, and criminal work gives him the requisite experience and ability to undertake the work of the chair of the Independent Police Conduct Authority. Therefore, it is with great pleasure that I commend to the House Associate Judge Johnston for this very important role.

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The National Party does agree to this motion, the appointment of Associate High Court Judge Kenneth Johnston, King’s Counsel, as chairperson of the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) for five years.

This is obviously a very important institution in the wider judicial system of this country. We New Zealanders sometimes take for granted these institutions, but it’s very important in any free and open country to ensure that the police whose job it is to maintain public safety and to look after us and deal with criminals and things that put them in harm’s way—but it’s also very important to know that their conduct is also held to account and monitored. Obviously, any lawbreaking involves the court system, but the IPCA is an important part of the process in order to investigate complaints against any misconduct or neglect of duty by a member of the police or any practice, policy, or procedure of the police affecting the complainant, as the Minister outlined. The authority also is responsible for investigating any incident involving serious bodily harm notified to the authority by the Commissioner of Police. So it’s an important agency.

We support the work that they do. We acknowledge, like the Minister did, the hard work of the retiring chairperson, Judge Colin Doherty, who has worked hard on behalf of the community. He’s had a very busy time, and indeed the IPCA is having a very busy time at the moment, particularly dealing with the multitude of issues raised by the occupation of Parliament last year, which does need thorough investigation. We were quite critical of the Government’s decisions around that—not any criticism directed at the IPCA, but the fact that we believe there should also have been a wider investigation involving not just the actions of the police but the Speaker and many other people. But I just say that in passing to make it absolutely and abundantly clear that the National Party strongly supports the work of the IPCA.

We acknowledge the effort and contribution that Judge Colin Doherty has made, and we wish the new chairperson, and current Associate High Court Judge Kenneth Johnston, King’s Counsel, all the best in the job. We have high hopes and expectations that he will maintain the strong traditions that the authority has in terms of standing strongly in order to maintain the integrity of the broader system.

I also just want to thank the Minister of Justice for the way that she consulted us on this side of the House over this appointment. It is important that these kinds of roles have bipartisan support and we welcomed the opportunity to comment on it, as expected, but it’s important that these practices continue. So without any further ado, the National Party supports this appointment and wishes the new chairperson, Judge Kenneth Johnston, all the very best.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I rise, too, as others have done, to support the appointment of Judge Kenneth Johnston KC to head the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA). It is an essential function of our democracy that we have independent, transparent mechanisms for accountability, particularly where uses of force are exercised by the State against members of the public. Obviously, the work of the police is important. But also, obviously, in terms of our human rights-based framework: to be free from unjust or unreasonable search and seizure, unlawful and arbitrary detention, and the very serious uses of force that police may also exercise when it comes to gun violence for example, are some of the most essential rights that we have in our system. So I do want to commend the appointment of someone who has acted as both prosecutor and defence counsel, who knows the frameworks within which police exercise these powers, and understands the rights—in particular in the criminal justice arena—and understands and knows very well the significance that we as a society, and in particular our courts and justice system, rightly place on our rights and our liberties being protected against, as we say in the courts, “The mighty force of the State”.

But I do want to also say that while we are commending ourselves and the Government in this appointment and we are underlining and reflecting on the significance of the work of the Independent Police Conduct Authority, that we have to look at the structures within which Ken Johnston KC will be operating. We have to reflect on the fact that just last year it was found in an independent report that police only very rarely refer complaints to the IPCA when they come to police—and that due to a lack of funding only 2 percent of cases, when they are referred by police, are able to be investigated by the IPCA. So to say that it’s a significant institution in upholding our rights and our freedoms, but to only fund 2 percent of cases to be investigated, is really tying the hands of this new appointee that we’re all commending today.

We also know that this is an office that has, throughout time and in its own reports, been found to lack the appropriate powers because it can’t prosecute. And we know that transparency is lacking because the IPCA can’t make public witness testimonies to it within its investigations. We know that most members of the public know very little about the work of the IPCA, and, certainly, because of a lack of legal aid when it comes to accessing investigations and complaints, it can’t in fact report what we might think are quite significant breaches of power by the police. And I only point now because I think it is important for us as a House to ground this debate on the motion in the very real issues that the IPCA grapples with, by saying that it was, again, only last year that our police force was found to use force lethally—that is, take lives of members of the public—at 11 times the rate of police in England or Wales. And I want us to hold that when the IPCA has—somehow, with the tiny resource it has—made recommendations on systemic change, that successive Governments have often ignored those recommendations. And I note that in relation to the use of force, that is incredibly high, that it was seven years ago that a previous IPCA head recommended that the Government introduce law or regulation to say that the Armed Offenders Squad actually can’t send its recruits out without formal qualifications, because it was found that they do.

So these are the types of issues that we’re dealing with: it’s life or death, it’s the most fundamental human rights. And we’re dealing with an office that’s so under-resourced and whose recommendations are so easily ignored, that has so few actual powers—that I’m not sure we can really commend ourselves as a society for holding police accountable. And I want to also hold, because it’s often disputed in this House, that Māori—within that same report—were found to be seven times more likely to suffer uses of force by police. And I will finish by quoting—on gun violence and the important work of the IPCA—the former IPCA head, when he found that police were routinely escalating situations and “put themselves in positions where firearms were the only option.”

So while in this House, as we go forward, we debate crime and punishment, we debate safety of our communities and we debate whether or not our rights are in fact protected, transparency is upheld, and accountability is applied to our State apparatus, I want us to also resolve to take notice of the independent work that these expert agencies do where prejudice is found and where safety issues of the public are highlighted—not by those that we routinely villainise here, but actually by police themselves. I want us to please—and this is imploring upon Governments to come also, because this is a five-year appointment—take more seriously the work of the appointee that we are celebrating today. I want us to respond as a lawmaking body, as the Government should when we are told that our regulations and our safety mechanisms for human rights in New Zealand are not working.

So with that—and a little bit of grim news on gun violence and the police—I do commend this appointment and I do appreciate the work of the IPCA. I only hope that these powers are strengthened and we take note of the recommendations as they come. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. It’s a pleasure to take a call to support the appointment of Kenneth Johnston KC as chairperson of the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA).

I’d like to start off by thanking outgoing chairperson Judge Colin Doherty, who’s done a great job over the last five years. He presided over a pretty turbulent period for police, with the number of complaints increasing 61 percent in the last four years, and doubling in the last 10 years. Even taking COVID issues into account, that’s a huge increase.

It can be a thankless task, with one party always being unhappy with the result of any investigation. With so many keyboard warriors out there, and ignorant commentary on specific incidents, making rational and informed decisions can often be a difficult process. Unfortunately, some of that ignorant commentary does come from inside this House. Sifting through frivolous and vexatious complaints is also part of that job.

Policing is a tough job, and it always has been, but circumstances have changed. Examples like the use of cellphones, the huge increase in mental health issues, the demand for accountability, and a renewed sense of entitlement has meant there is a lot more scrutiny given to police behaviour and actions. Most police would tell you that if they had a dollar for every time that they were told “I pay your wages”, they’d be pretty rich.

In my time in the police, I had only had one occasion dealing with the IPCA, and it was as a witness. A young man didn’t think the rules applied to him and he didn’t need to follow instructions because his dad was a lawyer. The IPCA agreed that he actually did need to follow instructions, and trust and accountability in the police was upheld.

New Zealand has the best police service in the world, and we should be very proud. The IPCA ensures that accountability and transparency is maintained.

ACT welcomes the appointment of Kenneth Johnston KC. He’s a vastly experienced practitioner, arbitrator, adjudicator, and mediator, having spent time—as was mentioned—as the chair of the New Zealand Teachers Council Disciplinary Tribunal and deputy chair of the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal. I’m sure he will continue to uphold the high standards that the IPCA is known for. Thank you.

Tēnā tātou. Tēnā koe e te Pīka. Tēnā tātou e te Whare. I rise on behalf of Te Paati Māori to speak to this motion nominating Associate High Court Judge Kenneth Johnston KC as chairperson of the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA). We acknowledge the experience and qualifications of Kenneth Johnston KC; however, we believe this appointment represents a missed opportunity from the Government to have appointed a tangata whenua leader to chair the IPCA. And so we will not be supporting this motion.

Throughout history, since the inception of the New Zealand Police and its predecessor, the armed constabulary, tangata whenua have been disproportionately impacted by abuse of police power and inappropriate conduct. From the armed constabulary invading the peaceful settlement of Parihaka, to the police invasions of Tūhoe in 1916 and in 2007 in the valley of Ruātoki, right through to just last year when the police illegally photographed rangatahi Māori without cause, and all painful injustices in between, this reality—our reality, as tangata whenua—is well known and indisputable. Like the Greens MP Golriz Ghahraman talked about, Māori are seven times more likely to have violent force used against them by the police.

The New Zealand Police is undeniably a systemically racist institution. Research is clear that our people are disproportionately stopped, searched, and charged. Follow the signs. Even the current Police Commissioner acknowledges the unconscious bias that they act with while dealing with our people. We need a police watchdog who understands this reality at a deep cultural level and has the unique qualifications that come with surviving as Māori in this country. We now have Māori across all levels of the legal and justice professions, including the Supreme Court. There is no shortage of qualified Māori people to choose from who would bring their considerable skills and experience to the leadership of the IPCA. We wish Kenneth Johnston KC well and challenge him to act with the rights and interests of tangata whenua at the forefront of his work.

💬 David Seymour: Maybe he could change his race. Would that help?

Maybe you should change yours. Tangata whenua must no longer be treated as second-class citizens on our own land. Tēnā koe e te Pīka. Tēnā tātou.