{"id":496224,"date":"2026-06-26T07:44:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T07:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/496224\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T07:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T07:44:11","slug":"ipca-has-direct-access-to-police-investigation-file-in-richard-chambers-inquiry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/496224\/","title":{"rendered":"IPCA has direct access to police investigation file in Richard Chambers inquiry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two of Schaare\u2019s colleagues \u2013 both detectives from the National Integrity Unit \u2013 flew to Australia to interview the complainant on June 4 and 5, as revealed by the Herald on Thursday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hold case management meetings and provide our input into lines of inquiry. We have direct access to the NIU investigation file which allows us to assess and review the material being gathered as the investigation progresses,\u201d the IPCA spokesman told the Herald.<\/p>\n

The spokesman said providing input into lines of inquiry could include suggesting pertinent people for police to speak to.<\/p>\n

The Herald has previously reported the woman being interviewed in Australia is a former partner of Chambers and that her historical allegations relate to events more than 20 years ago.<\/p>\n

\"PolicePolice Commissioner Richard Chambers strongly rejects the allegations. Photo \/ Cameron Pitney.<\/p>\n

The IPCA started investigating the woman\u2019s complaint in December. As well as interviewing her in early June, the Herald understands NIU detectives returned to Australia for another interview Friday. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn this particular case, I can confirm that we have been actively overseeing the NIU\u2019s investigation,\u201d the IPCA spokesman said. <\/p>\n

Police and the IPCA are also investigating another complaint from a second complainant.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Chambers said: \u201cI will co-operate fully with the investigation and look forward to having this matter dealt with. I acknowledge the public interest in this, but it is important the investigation takes its course. I cannot make further comment at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Herald asked Chambers when he was informed of the allegations and whether he\u2019s been advised when inquiries will be concluded, but he is yet to respond.<\/p>\n

Public Service Commissioner Brian Roche is backing Chambers remaining in the top job<\/a> but has refused to provide a detailed explanation for the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on the information available, the commissioner [Brian Roche] does not consider Mr Chambers needs to step down at this time,\u201d the spokesman said.<\/p>\n

\"PublicPublic Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche in their Bowen House office. Herald photograph by Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n

Who knew what, when?<\/p>\n

An Official Information Act request provided to the Herald by Mitchell\u2019s office said Mitchell received one complaint about Chambers on November 21 last year.<\/p>\n

He received a second complaint \u2013 which the Herald understands relates to the woman in Australia \u2013 on February 1 this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese complaints were both referred to the Independent Police Conduct Authority and the Police National Integrity Unit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The IPCA told the Herald it received an anonymous letter raising concerns about Chambers on November 21 and a complaint about Chambers on December 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided we would independently investigate both matters on December 3, 2025. Our investigation began shortly after this,\u201d an IPCA spokesman said.<\/p>\n

\"PolicePolice Minister Mark Mitchell speaking to journalists in Wellington. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n

Mitchell said on Thursday that he still had confidence in Chambers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s an outstanding Police Commissioner, he\u2019s doing a very good job for us. Police officers attract complaints. We have the IPCA \u2013 that is the right place for that to go and they\u2019ll deal with it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Michael Morrah<\/a> is a senior investigative reporter\/team leader at the Herald. He won News Journalist of the Year at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year at the NZ Television Awards. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald\u2019s video team in July 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two of Schaare\u2019s colleagues \u2013 both detectives from the National Integrity Unit \u2013 flew to Australia to interview…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[542,9092,32538,14903,30701,17629,18613,6871,42,10938,78,37601,62957,12898,14566,3556,43,675,42877,21501,15160,61,40,38,41,39,8443,13026],"class_list":["post-496224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-access","tag-against","tag-chambers","tag-commissioner","tag-complaints","tag-direct","tag-file","tag-has","tag-headlines","tag-herald","tag-in","tag-inquiry","tag-integrity","tag-investigation","tag-ipca","tag-national","tag-news","tag-police","tag-relating","tag-reveal","tag-richard","tag-to","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-unit","tag-watchdog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}