Open Letter To The PM - Doone Details
26 January 2000
Rt Hon Helen Clark
Prime
Minister
Parliament Buildings
Dear Prime
Minister
It has been reported that Police Commissioner
Peter Doone will relinquish his
duties on 29th
February and will then commence employment in the
Crime
Prevention Unit of Prime Minister and Cabinet
for an initial period of 6
months.
There is no doubt
in my mind that Commissioner Doone should have
relinquished
his position or be relieved of his
duties. His actions surrounding the
incident on 27
November were clearly undesirable and inappropriate. The
public
perception emanating from the incident poses a
serious threat to the integrity
of policing in New
Zealand and for that reason alone his departure is
an
imperative.
My concern is with the accommodation
of Peter Doone within the Department of
Prime Minister
and Cabinet on full Police Commissioner's pay. It appears
that
Peter Doone will be earning more than the Director
of the Crime Prevention Unit
and indeed more than
yourself as Prime Minister. Your Party
campaigned
strongly against golden handshakes for
disgraced senior public servants and yet
many would see
this accommodation as a thinly disguised golden handshake.
Mr
Doone will no longer carry the onerous workload and
responsibility that he did
as Commissioner and in the
public eyes he will have a "cushy little number" on
a
very large salary that is no longer commensurate
with his duties and
responsibilities.
I believe there
are a number of questions arising from the arrangements
within
your Department which in the interests of
transparency the public should be
aware of.
Who will
Mr Doone report to? Will it be through the Director of
the Crime
Prevention Unit and will she be responsible for
his output?
If Mr Doone continues as a sworn police
officer under secondment to the Crime
Prevention Unit,
what responsibility will the new Police Commissioner have
for
Mr Doones activities?
Will Mr Doone's salary of
$275,000 per annum continue to be funded from
Vote:Police
or will it be necessary for you to further expand the
funding for
the Department for Prime Minister and Cabinet
to accommodate Mr Doone?
In addition to answering
these questions will you please provide me with the
full
formal job description for Mr Doone, Mr Doone's
position within the
Department and the achievement
targets he is to meet.
I also request a copy of all
correspondence between the Attorney General,
your
colleague Margaret Wilson, and Mr Doone's lawyers
who brokered this exit deal.
I also request copies of
the testimonials that came from the Maori
community
asking that Peter Doone be kept on in
this role. Please consider this a
request under the
Official Information Act 1982.
My concern is that
unless a proper justification can be given for Mr
Doones
contract then the public perception will be that
your Department is being used
as green pasture land to
disguise Mr Doone's golden handshake. Far from
being
open and transparent such actions could well
be perceived as dishonest and
deceitful by the
public.
The clarification of these issues would be much
appreciated and I look forward
to receiving this
requested information.
Yours sincerely
Ken
Shirley
Police Spokesman
ACT New
Zealand