5 December 2018

A State Services Commission investigation into how the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Corrections responded to complaints made by three women against Wally Haumaha is welcomed, National’s spokesperson for Police Chris Bishop says.

“I wrote to State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes twice requesting he open this inquiry because there is a clear public interest in getting to the bottom of this very concerning matter.

“The Ministry of Justice, Department of Corrections and Police are totally at odds over fundamental questions to do with the complaints which were made by the women while working on a joint project with Police. Each agency seems to have a different view about how to characterise the complaints and what was done about them.

“The public must have confidence that issues to do with workplace bullying will be dealt with appropriately. Most importantly they must have confidence that agencies will work together, not against each other, in dealing with complaints like these. On the face of it, the public cannot have that confidence, and an inquiry is therefore vital

"The issue of how the bullying complaints were dealt with has not been satisfactorily resolved by the Scholtens Inquiry and I welcome the SSC looking into the matter.

“This is now the third inquiry underway into the appointment of Wally Haumaha as Deputy Commissioner of Police. The Independent Police Conduct Authority investigation into the complaints is due to report back soon.”

ends

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