Faafoi Kris: Appointments — Independent Police Conduct Authority 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Faafoi Kris: Appointments — Independent Police Conduct Authority 
[Sitting date: 05 April 2012. Volume:679;Page:1743. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
KRIS FAAFOI (Labour—Mana) 
: 
 Taloha ni Mr Speaker. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to Government motion No. 1 which is that this House recommends that Judge Sir David Carruthers be appointed as the chairperson of the Independent Police Conduct Authority. I just want to pick up on a comment that my colleague Charles Chauvel made in that this is an appointment from the House to ensure the integrity of the Independent Police Conduct Authority. I do also want to acknowledge and Charles Chauvel has mentioned it on many occasions the consultation that the Minister of Justice has had with this side of the House in order to come to the decision that Judge Carruthers should take over as chair of the Independent Police Conduct Authority. 
As the Minister pointed out it is the role of the Independent Police Conduct Authority to investigate the conduct of the police and also to investigate any incidents of serious harm or death that may come about as a result of the actions of the police. I guess given that there was a release of a report this week into the fatal shooting in Auckland resulting in the death of Halatau Naitoko we do remember the importance of the Independent Police Conduct Authority in making sure that all the measures and all the procedures in place with the police are followed as closely as possible. 
I also want to take this opportunity to commend the work of Justice Lowell Goddard over her term as the chair of the Independent Police Conduct Authority. I understand both from the police and the staff at the Independent Police Conduct Authority that she was very well respected and the reports that she handed down over her time as the chair of the Independent Police Conduct Authority are very well respected as well. 
 The Independent Police Conduct Authority of course is very crucial in terms of making sure that there is public confidence in the police and ensuring that where the public question any actions taken by members of the police force they are fully investigated. That is as the Minister said critical to the democracy that we live in. Also given that in the last 10 or 12 years there have been some question marks around the culture of our police force the Independent Police Conduct Authority is there to ensure that there is a culture change within the police. I do note that a significant culture change has happened with the police force over the last 7 to 10 years and that the Independent Police Conduct Authority has gone a long way in making sure that work is carried out on the front line and at management level to ensure that that culture change does happen. 
In terms of our new chair Judge Sir David Carruthers again I just point out his achievements on the bench. He was appointed to the District Court as a judge and with Family Court and Youth Court warrants in 1985. In 1995 he was also made Principal Youth Court Judge and was also Chief District Court Judge from 2001 to 2005. As a number of speakers on this motion have commented he is well regarded by the legal fraternity and that is why it has been recommended to the Governor-General that he should take this position as chair of the Independent Police Conduct Authority. 
As a number of other speakers have also commented Justice Goddard has done a fantastic job in terms of her term at the Independent Police Conduct Authority. I do want to put on the record her last appearance before the Law and Order Committee just a couple of weeks ago. She said she was very proud of the work that she has done and also the way that she has ensured the integrity of not just the police force and police actions but also the Independent Police Conduct Authority and the appointments that she has made. During the select committee meeting there was some questioning around the number of former police officers who are employed by the Independent Police Conduct Authority to carry out investigations but Justice Goddard also pointed out that she has brought a lot of overseas experience and a lot of overseas expertise into the Independent Police Conduct Authority to ensure not only that independence away from the New Zealand environment but also that there is overseas experience in a policing environment. She has certainly made sure that the “Independent” part of the title of the agency which she has chaired for many many years now has been carried out. 
As I was saying before in terms of the confidence of the police force there is just one thing I would like to say in terms of the report that was handed down this week into the fatal police shooting in Auckland in January 2009. There were reports that one of the victims I guess you could say who was caught in the crossfire in that incident was not interviewed by the Independent Police Conduct Authority during its investigation. Maybe just one thing that I would like to ensure that Judge Carruthers looks into when he becomes the chair of the Independent Police Conduct Authority is that there is more involvement of those who are at the scene at the time of an incident more investigation and more communication with those people who are at the scene of the incident when things happen. I think it is a concern certainly on this side of the House that in that instance someone who was so close to the action was not actually interviewed as part of that process. His comments and his experience were just taken from the notes of the interviews that were carried out by the police force at the time. So maybe that is one message to Judge Carruthers as he is going forward. Maybe we could see more communication for those people who are intimately involved in some of these cases and not necessarily just have their perspective taken from notes that are gathered during a police investigation. 
Justice Goddard of course needs to be applauded for her work. I do not want to be too critical of that incident because she has done good work over her term as the chair of the Independent Police Conduct Authority. I do want to also note—I am not sure if this is appropriate but I will say it anyway—that during the financial review of the Independent Police Conduct Authority I understand it was said that the social club of the authority has a fully functioning ukulele band. I also understand that Justice Goddard has been at the forefront of making sure that the Independent Police Conduct Authority is a good place to work too and that is obviously something that has been noted in the financial review questions that came through to the select committee. We do wish Judge Carruthers all the best in his new term as chair of the Independent Police Conduct Authority. 
It is not an easy job investigating and ensuring the conduct of our police force. I hope it does become an easier job. But we also do thank Justice Goddard for the work that she has done. It has ensured that the public confidence over the last 5 or 6 years in our police force in our men and women on the front line has increased somewhat. I think that the Independent Police Conduct Authority in its investigation and in its ongoing work with our police force has gone a long way to making sure that public confidence in our policemen and policewomen has increased. We wish Judge Carruthers all the best. We thank Justice Goddard very much for the work she has done and we also support the recommendation in this motion that Judge Carruthers be the new chairperson of the Independent Police Conduct Authority. 
Motion agreed to.