Jones Dail: Police Complaints Authority (Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Jones Dail: Police Complaints Authority (Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:616;Page:12102] 
DAIL JONES (NZ First) 
: 
 New Zealand First is alarmed that it has received this bill so late in the process. It is such a serious matter that one would have thought the Government might have been in contact with us much earlier and that we could have seen the legislation a lot earlier. But finally when we look at what is happening out in the public arena and particularly my reaction I do not want to see the legal process abused. On the face of it there might be an abuse of legal process here. As a lawyer it really goes against the grain to allow the legal process to be abused. On the other hand public concern has been expressed on this issue so from the point of view of allowing the bill to go to a select committee New Zealand First will agree. 
At the select committee we expect that members of the public who are associated with the evidence at issue might be forthcoming and give us some indication of the basis on which they made the evidence available—which was about 16 years ago—and what their attitude would be to that evidence being regurgitated all over again before the commission. It suggests in many ways that no one can quite remember what happened 16 years ago and the best evidence is what might have been recorded 16 years ago. I can hardly remember what happened this time last year. Of course being a member of Parliament I find it hard to remember what happened this time last week let alone what might have happened 16 years ago. I was almost a member of Parliament 16 years ago but I cannot remember whether I was or not—it is so long ago. In 1984 I was a member of Parliament. 
I may be making a joke of it but that is really how serious it is—to have the commission going now and then have people trying to remember what was said all those years ago. As a lawyer it is very hard to cross-examine somebody on evidence as old as that. At the same time lawyers would have been advising the people who gave evidence in 1986 and would have told them that their evidence would be protected under the Police Complaints Authority legislation. 
As the bill states in the explanatory note the provisions of the Police Complaints Authority legislation “… are designed to facilitate the free flow of information essential for the effective conduct of investigations in compliance with the statutory functions of the Authority. Members of the public are able to approach the Authority in confidence with matters that may be personally sensitive or embarrassing if made public. It also enables the Authority to obtain free and frank information from members of the police regarding complaints. Secrecy is important to encourage witnesses to be frank by providing a climate in which evidence can be given without fear of self-incrimination retribution by alleged offenders or associates or defamation proceedings.” 
That is the basis on which lawyers would have advised people to give evidence to the Police Complaints Authority—the basis on which people would have gone there—and now it is all being overturned by this one-off piece of legislation. The explanatory note quite properly sets out that “It is necessary for the Commission to have access to that material in order to complete its task. Accordingly it is vital for public confidence in the Commission the police and the Authority that this uncertainty be removed.” 
When one looks at it all one wonders whether any human beings will be called to give evidence and whether the files will just be read as they existed all those years ago. What weight will be given to those files and what weight will be given to human evidence? It will create quite a lot of problems. New Zealand First will be very interested in the select committee process. 
I appreciate Mr Martin Gallagher the chairman of the Law and Order Committee talking to me about this matter. He indicated the helpful way in which he intends to proceed in the select committee and that is most appreciated. New Zealand First will take that into account as well. We must make sure that all people are protected particularly the person who has laid the complaint that is now the subject of the commission of inquiry but also all those people who might have expressed views one way or the other. There might be people whose names have not come before the public and who have been shielded up until now. 
On balance New Zealand First will support the legislation to a select committee and we look forward with considerable interest to what will happen there before we finally make our decision on this matter. We have a great deal of support for the New Zealand police force. We look forward to the submissions that no doubt will be coming from the Police Association and will be very interested in the way the public conducts this matter in the select committee.