Labour leader Chris Hipkins says Naidoo never gave Labour any sensitive information and is hitting back at Chambers, saying he was surprised the Police Commissioner is “publicly entertaining any suggestion he has without any evidence whatsoever”.
Naidoo, the Ethnic, Iwi and Communities national partnerships manager at New Zealand Police, was yesterday confirmed as a Labour list candidate, ranked high at 13 above many current sitting MPs.
The revelation prompted Chambers and National’s Police Minister Mark Mitchell to express disappointment Naidoo hadn’t declared to them, earlier than last week, the conversations he’d had with Labour, which Hipkins said had occurred for some months.
Mitchell was the first to voice his concern after Labour’s list announcement, given Naidoo’s role meant he was included in sensitive briefings related to public safety and Government policy.
“In my view it is critical that the public can have confidence that police are politically neutral.
“The respectful and right thing to do would have been for Mr Naidoo to be transparent and disclose his intentions from the outset.”
Chambers yesterday referenced the nature of Naidoo’s role in his statement in which he said it was “untenable” for Naidoo to remain.
After a period of pre-planned personal leave, it was expected Naidoo would go through a consultation process regarding his role.
Chambers yesterday said he was first informed by Naidoo’s supervisor on Thursday afternoon, that he was considering standing for Labour.
On Sunday, Chambers was told Naidoo had confirmed he’d accepted a list position.
Speaking to the Herald today, Chambers expanded on his concerns about Naidoo’s candidacy, in light of his role within police.
“Particularly as a very senior police officer, because he has a very public facing role in communities across New Zealand, potentially the very same people that when you’re a list MP, you would be communicating with.
“We can’t afford to blend his political aspiration with policing, they have to be kept quite separate.”
Chambers noted it was “inevitable” Naidoo would have received sensitive information, which had prompted Mitchell’s concern.
He said police would be investigating the conversations Naidoo had had over the months while he was engaging with Labour.
“We’ve got some information to assess and just look at potentially what has been spoken about over recent times.”
Chambers was asked several times whether he had received any reports of Naidoo inappropriately sharing sensitive information.
While he initially didn’t respond directly, Chambers said: “Not where I can confidently say that Rakesh Naidoo has obtained and released information to the wrong external parties”.
He also noted it was “too early”, given police would be looking into the matter.
“If information came to me to suggest that certain individuals had specifically spoken out of turn based on the information that they were privy to, then yes, I’d be concerned about that.”
Chambers couldn’t give many details about what process police would follow, saying it was being developed currently.
“We’ll have a think about how best do we look at the last couple of months to reassure ourselves that there’s no information that’s been shared or passed on that will be used for a different purpose,” Chambers said, acknowledging it would include whether Naidoo shared information for political purposes.
“Obviously there’s going to be conversations with Rakesh, probably with his supervisor, in terms of now that he has been publicly announced as a list MP, access to police information, including use of police devices, obviously, we need to take that into account.”
Chambers said he had worked with Naidoo for many years.
“He’s been very good, but I’m also conscious that we have to keep the boundaries very, very clearly.”
Hipkins told the Herald Naido was a “man of the utmost integrity” and said he hadn’t given Labour any sensitive information.
“He has not disclosed any sensitive police information to the Labour Party and I’m very surprised to see the Police Commissioner publicly entertaining any suggestion he has without any evidence whatsoever.
“As I indicated when we announced his candidacy, the Labour Party is committed to preserving the political neutrality of the police force and will support their decisions on how to manage Rakesh’s transition accordingly.
I would, however, expect any engagement to be in good-faith – not through the media.”
Naidoo should have spoken up after first conversation – Commissioner
Chambers also elaborated on what he believed Naidoo was obligated to do after he was contacted by Labour.
Hipkins has previously said while Naidoo hadn’t been confirmed as a list candidate until last week, conversations with Naidoo had taken place across a couple of months.
The police manual states: “Police employees intending to seek election to any elected public office must advise their District Commander or Director at the earliest opportunity so that the potential impact on their role as a police employee and any necessary plan of action can be discussed early”.
The Herald understands Labour initiated conversations with Naidoo. It’s not yet clear how Naidoo responded to Labour at the time.
Chambers argued Naidoo should have informed him or his supervisor, Assistant Commissioner Tim Anderson, after the first conversation with Labour.
“He should have at that time highlighted to us that he was having these conversations because then we could have made some decisions to ensure that he can have those conversations and we wouldn’t compromise some of the work that he does in his day job as a police officer.”
Chambers didn’t shift his position when asked whether it made a difference if Naidoo at that time had the intent to run for Labour.
“He may have turned around and said, ‘I’ve been approached, but I had absolutely no aspiration or intention’.
“Fine, we could have dealt with that. I think he could have at least told his employer and we could have assessed that but it appears that he continued to engage over a couple of months.”
Hipkins, while unveiling his list, said he was confident Naidoo had sufficiently engaged with police over his decision and had done so with integrity.
Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.