Information ‘drip feeding’ frustrates PM
WELLINGTON: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is ‘‘hugely frustrated’’ information which should have been considered before Wally Haumaha was promoted to deputy police commissioner is being ‘‘dripfed’’ after the appointment was made.
Her comments came after it was reported yesterday three women policy analysts working on a joint project walked out of Police National Headquarters because of Mr Haumaha’s alleged bullying towards them.
‘‘I’m hugely frustrated to be in a situation where an appointment has been made and now we’re having information being dripfed out, which should have been made available at the time of the appointment. That’s why we’re undertaking this work,’’ said Ms Ardern, referring to the stalled inquiry.
The Cabinet is still considering candidates to conduct the inquiry after the original reviewer, Pauline Kingi, resigned last week amid revelations she had endorsed Mr Haumaha 23 times on a professional networking website.
Mr Haumaha’s links to New Zealand First have also dogged the inquiry — overseen by Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin, a NZ First MP — but the PM has downplayed any suggestions of a conflict of interest.
The policy analysts — two from the Justice Ministry, one from Corrections — were based at PNHQ in Wellington, working in the Maori, Pacific, ethnic services division run by Mr Haumaha, a superintendent at the time.
Several alleged verbal bullying incidents, including a particularly heated exchange in which one of Mr Haumaha’s senior staff intervened, contributed to the three women leaving PNHQ in June 2016 feeling ‘‘devalued and disillusioned’’.
The three women told their managers and continued working on the project from the Justice Ministry offices.
Mr Haumaha did not respond to a request for comment.
The investigation dominated Question Time in Parliament yesterday where two senior ministers, Grant Robertson and Chris Hipkins, said the inquiry into Mr Haumaha’s appointment would be wide enough to consider the bullying allegations.
Mr Robertson also said questions would be asked of the chief executives of the Justice Ministry and Corrections, Andrew Bridgman and Ray Smith respectively, about how the bullying allegations were handled.
Under questioning in Parliament by National MP Chris Bishop yesterday, Police Minister Stuart Nash also confirmed the ‘‘Wally’’ he mentioned in a Facebook video post about lifting weights was Mr Haumaha.
Mr Nash said he did not lift weights with Mr Haumaha and they did not have a personal relationship.
The comment was ‘‘odd’’, Mr Bishop said.
‘‘I certainly think it’s strange you’ve got the minister calling out on social media someone who is now the deputy commissioner of police.’’
Ms Ardern declined to comment on the Facebook banter between Messrs Nash and Haumaha.
One of the three women who walked out of PNHQ — and did not return — is now planning to make a formal complaint about Mr Haumaha’s alleged behaviour.
She says the trio raised the matter with their respective managers, which is why they kept working on the project from the Justice Ministry.
But she was never asked to make a formal complaint and the women believed their managers would handle it on their behalf.
Conflicting accounts have emerged from Corrections, the Justice Ministry, and Police about what happened next. Corrections said there was no record of any allegation of bullying.
‘‘Issues were raised’’ about the management of the project, according to the Justice Ministry.
‘‘The issues around behaviour were raised at the highest level between the acting chief executive of the ministry Audrey Sonerson and deputy commissioner of police Mike Clement,’’ deputy chief executive Colin Lynch said. ‘‘The ministry expected police to follow up this issue appropriately.’’
Police say an allegation of bullying was made to Mr Clement by a ‘‘third party, external to all agencies’’. The individuals were not named.
‘‘Clement immediately made contact with the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Corrections to request more information and advise that the staff involved could make a complaint if they wished.
‘‘No further information or complaints were forthcoming to Mr Clement from the agencies.
‘‘In the absence of any formal complaint, or further information, the matter was unable to be taken further, and therefore not escalated to the commissioner.’’
One of the women, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said noone told her Mr Clement had been in touch with Justice or Corrections.
‘‘I will make a complaint now. We trusted management to deal with it and never heard back.’’ — NZME