Politics and the police
In the Barclay case, Prime Minister Bill English did not seem keen for the police to investigate a backbench MPfrom his own party. Barclay himself refused to talk to the police, a remarkable decision for the representative of a law-andorder party. The police appear not to have pushed very hard in that inquiry.
This is not a good look for the police. It could give the impression that they were keen to investigate only when the PMwanted an inquiry. Whether that is the case remains moot. But the appearance itself is damaging. Everyone is equal before the law, and police investigations must never be subject to the whims of politicians.
In this case it might seem that the police were not impartial.
That is why the Independent Police Conduct Authority’s decision not to pursue a complaint about the Barclay inquiry is important. Public confidence in the police has been shaken by the apparent contrast between the two police investigations of a secret tape recording.
The IPCA is the guardian of public confidence in the police. It provides a visibly independent source of accountability.The public knows that police misconduct will be investigated by the IPCA and any shortcomings will be publicly exposed and punished.
New Zealand First MPWinston Peters is right to say that the independence of the IPCA is undermined by its decision not to investigate the Todd Barclay inquiry and to do so without giving any reason. It needs to say in detail why it has cleared the police. Otherwise the impression of police partiality is left unanswered.
Some will say that the outcome of the tea-party tapes led nowhere, just as the Todd Barclay police inquiry did. After a four-month inquiry, the police took no action. The photographer whose tape recorder was left running during the ‘‘secret’’ meeting between Key and the then-leader of Act later sued Key and the case was settled out of court.
But the contrast between the two inquiries remains striking. In the tea-party case the police appeared energetic. In the Todd Barclay case they appeared lackadaisical.
The police are in a difficult position whenever politicians are the subject of an investigation. But that is why they must be seen to be above any reproach. Politicians must never be seen to be above others before the law.
And that is why, as it happens, the authorities should hold Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei to account for her admission of benefit fraud. If Work and Income don’t require her to repay the money, it could leave the impression that it is softer on the MP than on other beneficiaries.