Appointments — Ombudsman and Chief Ombudsman Deputy Controller and Auditor-General Independent Police Conduct Authority Abortion Supervisory CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeAppointments — Ombudsman and Chief Ombudsman Deputy Controller and Auditor-General Independent Police Conduct Authority Abortion Supervisory Committee[Sitting date: 16 September 2015. Volume:708;Page:6753. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Wednesday 16 September 2015(continued on Thursday 17 September 2015)AppointmentsOmbudsman and Chief OmbudsmanHon JO GOODHEW (Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector) on behalf of theLeader of the House: I move That pursuant to sections 3(1) 3(4) and 5(1) of the Ombudsmen Act 1975 Peter Francis Boshier be appointed as an Ombudsman for a term of 5 years with effect from 10 December 2015 and upon taking up the office of Ombudsman he be appointed as Chief Ombudsman with effect from the date that the incumbent Chief Ombudsman vacates the position. Today I rise to move a motion that recommends the appointment of Judge Peter Boshier to replace Dame Beverley Wakem as an Ombudsman. Dame Beverley has served this country as Ombudsman since 23 November 2007. I would like to place on record our thanks for her many years of service in this important role.The Office of the Ombudsmen is not only an important organ of State; it is also an advocate for the protections that New Zealanders expect inside our democracy. It is an organisation that is able to conduct free of charge examinations into all manner of requests from the public that relate to the activities of governance in this country. It is also the organisation that has the greatest influence on the application of the Official Information Act. The organisation therefore has to have people of the highest calibre and highest integrity working within its office. Judge Boshier is well-qualified to become an Ombudsman. He holds an LLB (Hons) from Victoria University of Wellington and has practised in Wellington since 1975. In 1988 he was appointed a District Court judge. In 2004 Judge Boshier was appointed Principal Family Court Judge and he was in that role until December 2012. He is currently a law commissioner.The position of Ombudsman was widely advertised throughout New Zealand and the Officers of Parliament Committee has acknowledged the high calibre of applicants for the position. Judge Boshier was unanimously supported by the committee members. I want to thank them for their work and wish Judge Boshier all the best for his term as Ombudsman.Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour—Hutt South): I rise to place on record Labour’s support for this appointment. I do want to very briefly pay tribute to Dame Beverley Wakem not only for the time she spent as Chief Ombudsman but also for a career of many many years in the broader State sector. She has made an enormous contribution.I have known Judge Boshier since he was a law student. Our paths have crossed on a number of occasions—but not to the extent of my having appeared. Peter Boshier is a man of quiet integrity. He is someone who has shown an ability to lead a team. I think it is fair to say that herding Family Court judges is something that is not particularly easy and he managed to work some reforms and do some improvements over a period of years which showed tact and discretion but also a bit of steady leadership when that was necessary. He is currently a law commissioner. He is widely respected in the Pacific and has done work there. I am sure that he is very very suitable to do this job. As the Minister moving the motion for Mr Brownlee the Hon Jo Goodhew indicated it was a decision that in the end the Officers of Parliament Committee came to relatively easily.But I think it is also fair to say and to place on record that any of the applicants who were shortlisted and interviewed could have been appointed and in a different field they may well have been appointed. This was a position that was sought by people with a range of experience and people of very good standing in our community. I am pleased that the Office of the Ombudsmen still holds an attraction for people of that sort of integrity. I think it bodes well for the future.There is one point I will disagree with the Government on and that is whether it is the Office of the Ombudsmen that has the most influence over the workings of the Official Information Act. That is just not correct. It is the leadership of the Government that is most important in that and I think that that is something that would be good for the new Chief Ombudsman and both this Government and the next Government to reflect on. Thank you.KEVIN HAGUE (Green): I rise on behalf of the Green Party to give our support for this Government motion appointing Peter Boshier to the position of Chief Ombudsman. Like Trevor Mallard said before me I have had some dealings with him and have found him to be excellent. I believe he will be a superb appointment to this role. I also want to place on record our party’s thanks for the work that Dame Beverley Wakem has carried out in this role until now. The role of ombudsmen is a crucial one in democracies such as ours. It is a Swedish idea. It comes from the sense that citizens need some kind of backstop protection against potential excesses of the executive arm of Government.In her contribution Jo Goodhew mentioned the role of the ombudsmen in relation to the Official Information Act. It is no secret that the Green Party has been concerned that the use of that Act has become more problematic as to our mind Government departments and arms of the executive part of Government have frustrated the use of that Act by declining Official Information Act requests. There has been a suspicion that that underperformance in relation to the responsibilities of the Official Information Act has been assisted by an underfunding of the Office of the Ombudsmen leaving the ombudsmen with less capacity to respond to those problems.Like Trevor Mallard said before me I think that when Peter Boshier assumes his new role as the Chief Ombudsman his scrutiny on that matter may be useful but equally it may be that that is not the only reason for delays in responding to complaints to the Office of the Ombudsmen. The Green Party certainly would appreciate the opportunity for some kind of independent review of not only those funding matters but also the operation of the Office of the Ombudsmen. Is everything being done that should be done to ensure that the ombudsmen’s functions are able to be carried out with the least impediment possible? We would advocate that cause to the incoming Chief Ombudsman.So with those remarks I echo my earlier expression of support for the Government’s motion and congratulate Peter Boshier on his appointment.Motion agreed to.Deputy Controller and Auditor-GeneralHon JO GOODHEW (Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector) on behalf of theLeader of the House: I move That pursuant to section 11(2) and clause 2 of Schedule 3 of the Public Audit Act 2001 the House recommend to the Governor-General that Greg Mark Schollum of Wellington be appointed as the Deputy Controller and Auditor-General for a term not exceeding 5 years with effect from 28 September 2015. This motion recommends Mr Greg Schollum replace Phillippa Smith as the Deputy Controller and Auditor-General a role she has held since 2005. After 10 years she has decided not to seek reappointment. I would like to place on record our thanks for her service in this role.The work of the Deputy Controller and Auditor-General cannot be understated in its importance. Indeed work undertaken by the office must give Parliament public entities and the public independent assurance that some 4000 public entities are operating and accounting for their performance in keeping with Parliament’s intentions. Mr Schollum is well-qualified for this appointment having joined the Office of the Auditor-General in September 2004.He has held responsibility for the accounting and auditing policy group which encompasses auditor appointments quality assurance auditing policy and accounting policy across all sectors within the Auditor-General’s audit mandate. Mr Schollum was a member of the Financial Reporting Standards Board of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants for 8 years and has served on numerous working groups and committees of the institute. Since 1 July 2011 he has served on the New Zealand Accounting Standards Board.He is a fellow of the institute and gained his business management studies qualification from the University of Waikato. Before being in the Office of the Auditor-General Mr Schollum was the chief financial officer for the Greater Wellington Regional Council and prior to that an audit director with Audit New Zealand. I want to thank the Officers of Parliament Committee for its work and I wish Mr Schollum all the best for his term as Deputy Controller and Auditor-General.Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour—Hutt South): Again I would like to place on record the support of the Labour Party for this appointment and also I want to make a few brief comments about Phillippa Smith before I sit down. Unlike the appointment we debated previously there was not quite the even balance and strength other than Mr Schollum in the applicants for this appointment. It is a little bit hard to tell why—whether the position is not that attractive or as may be the case people saw that Mr Schollum was an applicant and thought as a result of that because he had the history and the background he was almost certain to be appointed. If that is the case that is fine.What became clear to the committee was that the new Deputy Auditor-General will not be a pushover for anyone. He is someone who stands up for what he believes in—something that on occasions has not always made him popular inside and outside the office. He has the ability which I think is necessary for someone in this sort of position to put on the black hat to take a contrary point of view and to debate issues. I think that is valuable because in an office like that of the Auditor-General having groupthink is something that is not useful. It is better to have views tested. I am sure Mr Schollum will be able to do that.I do want to acknowledge the role that Phillippa Smith has played in the Public Service. I think I first came across her when she worked in the Audit Office previously before she went to the State Services Commission. She is a public servant of incredible integrity and intelligence. I was Minister of State Services during the majority of the time she was at the State Services Commission. She was fearless in her legal advice and warnings both verbally and occasionally in writing to Ministers of the day. I think that was something that I found particularly valuable and on occasions chilling. That again was something important.I am not sure if we are meant to say this but I would have thought that Phillippa Smith is not yet at the point where it is appropriate for her skills to be lost to the State sector generally. She is I think someone whom Governments should look to in the future for roles that are temporary or part-time because her abilities are something that is so valuable that it is vital that they are retained and used in order to keep working on the integrity of the Public Service and the State sector generally. If she is going into part-time retirement I wish her well. Thank you.KEVIN HAGUE (Green): On behalf of the Green Party I rise to support the Government motion to congratulate Mr Schollum on his appointment and also to thank Phillippa Smith for her contribution. I echo the remarks that Trevor Mallard has just made. The Office of the Auditor-General is an incredibly important one for our democracy and for our work in this Parliament. When I consider the work for example that we all undertake on select committees the advice that we have from the Office of the Auditor-General is extraordinarily important and valuable in forming the scrutiny that we are able to place the institutions of Government under. So we could not perform our role on select committees if we did not have that support from the Office of the Auditor-General.That means of course that the office has a very heavy workload indeed and that I think has made it from time to time difficult for it to strike the best balance between that programme of regular work and the functions that it also has to conduct investigations from time to time into for example probity in Government departments. Certainly our party has often called on the Auditor-General to conduct such investigations when we have encountered conflicts of interest for example or other situations where the rules do not appear to have been followed. Sometimes the Office of the Auditor-General has been in a position to respond to those requests; sometimes it has not. But our point I think would be that it ought not require complaints from members of Parliament to trigger such investigations. One of the developments that certainly our party would like to see in the future is a more proactive stance from the Office of the Auditor-General and maybe this appointment will create the catalyst for that to occur so that there is greater horizon-scanning for the issues that arise from time to time that could require the skills and expertise of the Auditor-General’s office to investigate.So a more proactive stance towards investigation without needing complaints from members of Parliament or members of the public is what we would like to see. In conclusion congratulations again to Mr Schollum and we hope that his appointment and his tenure in the office will be very successful.Motion agreed to.Independent Police Conduct AuthorityHon JO GOODHEW (Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector) on behalf of theMinister 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.Hon PHIL GOFF (Labour—Mt Roskill): 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.DAVID CLENDON (Green): 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.Abortion Supervisory CommitteeHon JO GOODHEW (Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector) on behalf of theMinister of Justice: I move That pursuant to section 10 of the Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977 this House recommends His Excellency the Governor-General reappoints Dame Linda Holloway as Chair reappoints Dr Tangimoana Habib as a member and appoints Ms Carolyn McIlraith as a member of the Abortion Supervisory Committee each for terms of 3 years.The terms of appointment of all three members expired in April 2014 and they have continued in office under the rollover provisions of the Act. Dame Linda and Dr Habib both indicated their availability for reappointment. The third current member Rev. Patricia Allan indicated her wish to stand down once a replacement could be appointed.Dame Linda has served as the chairperson of the supervisory committee since June 2007 after retiring from a distinguished career in medicine. She was dean of the Wellington school of medicine and health sciences then became pro-vice-chancellor of the division of health sciences at Otago University. She is a highly respected anatomical pathologist who served on the Medicines Assessment Advisory Committee and was one of the advisers to Dame Silvia Cartwright during the inquiry into the treatment for cervical cancer at the National Women’s Hospital.Dr Habib is a Hamilton-based doctor and has been a member of the supervisory committee since April 2011. She was awarded fellowship of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners—the royal college—in 2003 and currently works as a general practitioner for Te Kohao Health in Hamilton. Dr Habib has been involved in Te Ohu Rata o Aotearoa (Te ORA) Māori doctorsassociation since 2000 and has been a member of Te Akoranga a Māui the Māori general practitioner faculty since its inception in 2002. She served on the council of the royal college in 2005 and 2006 and is the continuing medical education provider for Te ORA. She is of Ngāti Tūwharetoa descent.The proposed new member is Ms Carolyn McIlraith. She is currently employed with Capital and Coast District Health Board and has been counselling for 10 years specialising in the areas of youth post-natal depression grief and loss sex psychological first aid and pregnancy counselling. Prior to retraining as a counsellor she worked in a variety of positions including customer services fixed assets and human resources.Retaining the experience of Dame Linda and Dr Habib should ensure the stability of the supervisory committee. Ms McIlraith has worked extensively with women experiencing unplanned pregnancies. She will bring a perspective from her social work and counselling background that will meet what the supervisory committee itself has advised is a key input it seeks.Hon ANNETTE KING (Deputy Leader—Labour): I stand for the Labour Opposition to support the appointment of Dame Linda Holloway and Dr Habib and the new appointment of Carolyn McIlraith—three very good appointments. The two reappointments and Carolyn McIlraith who works here at Capital and Coast District Health Board as a very very experienced counsellor make up I think a very strong group of three for what is a pretty difficult job to undertake.The Abortion Supervisory Committee is one that operates under the Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion Act and its function is to keep under review all the provision of New Zealand’s abortion laws and operations and the effect of those provisions. That also includes the licensing of institutions to perform abortions. So it is an area where there are often very strong views and they are often very strongly presented and so those who take on this job are people—and have been women—over the years who have been able to bridge the gap between those views to a great extent.Dame Linda Holloway is very well-known to me from the time before I was a Minister of Health but particularly during my time as Minister of Health. She has been a long-time advocate for women. She has been a long-time advocate for contraception for women access to contraception and access to legal abortion in New Zealand. In fact she was the person who introduced RU486 to New Zealand—a medical abortion as opposed to a surgical abortion—and she advocated for many years for another safe way for legal abortion.Dr Habib is a GP as you have heard from the Minister. The Act does require that there be two medical practitioners and so that requirement has been fulfilled and as I said Miss Carolyn McIlraith is a counsellor so I think they are three good very appointments. I think they can take some credit and strength from the latest statistics where you look and see that in December 2014 New Zealand had the lowest number of abortions since 1994. In fact in its report—the latest report to this House—the committee said that it believes that one of the reasons for that is because of the funding of long-acting subcutaneous implant contraception from August 2010. It has seen an overall decline in abortion rates and notes a dramatic drop in abortion rates for 15 to 19-year-olds and believes that this could be partially attributed to the introduction of this form of long-term contraception. The committee believes that this downward trend for this age cohort will continue. I think it is that sort of data and information provided by this committee that is really important in order to be able to see what is happening in the area of abortion.The committee does however say in its recent report that it continues to be very worried about harassment—harassment of women—where you must recognise the right to freedom of expression for people who have strong views on abortion and also the right of women to choose. It is concerned about verbal abuse distribution of offensive material to people entering hospital—and people go into hospital for many reasons. Women could be there for dozens of reasons. They ought not to be subjected to coercion or humiliation and I absolutely support the committee on that.The committee also points out that we now have better access to services in the provincial areas of New Zealand and that has been an issue in some parts of New Zealand in the past where there was not local access. This meant that women were required to travel long distances to obtain a legal abortion.So we do support the appointment of these three women to the committee and wish them well in their work continuing their strong advocacy on behalf of those who seek counselling advice and legal abortion in New Zealand.JAN LOGIE (Green): I rise to add the Green Party’s support to the nomination of Dame Linda Holloway as chair the reappointment of Dr Tangimoana Habib and the new appointment of Ms Carolyn McIlraith to the Abortion Supervisory Committee. These are women particularly Dame Linda Holloway and Dr Tangimoana Habib with a proven track record of strong oversight and advocacy in care for the well-being of women in this country. We certainly welcome the experience of Ms Carolyn McIlraith as a counsellor and as somebody who is currently working at the Capital Coast District Health Board in this area. That expertise I think will add a lot to the committee and we welcome that.Of course I am not going to stand in this House and talk about the Abortion Supervisory Committee without mentioning the fact that we believe the law that it is constituted under is well outdated. It is a 1977 law that is built on a fundamental mistrust of women and a belief that we cannot trust women to make decisions about their own bodies and their own health and that needs changing. The fact that this committee is set up to give operation to a law that criminalises women’s basic fundamental human right is unjust and needs changing and although we can trust these women to operate within the constraints that this House has put them under those constraints are fundamentally wrong and need changing.The fact that so much of the committee’s work is done in certifying the appointment of certifying consultants—any woman in this country who is seeking a termination has to see two certifying consultants which may mean that she ends up seeing up to five doctors and potentially five different appointments in five different places to be able to access health care. The cost that goes into that for her personally let alone the cost to our health budget of certifying these consultants—who are paid to basically tick off a system of saying “Yes this will be mentally injurious to you to have this pregnancy.” which is a demonstration again of that mistrust—is ridiculous.It is 2015. Most people in this country actually believe that abortion is decriminalised already. The fact that we are all unwilling to address that or even properly have that conversation to me is a sign of our fundamental failing and we hope that that will change in the future. However that is the place we are at and these women will do the job well so we support them.Motion agreed to.