‘Untenable’ for Labour’s new candidate to continue as superintendent - Police Commissioner

The head of police is “very disappointed” by superintendent Rakesh Naidoo’s failure to give earlier notice of his intention to stand for Labour.

Naidoo was confirmed on Monday morning as a list-only candidate for Labour - and his ranking at 13th means he is almost guaranteed a seat in Parliament.

He is an ethnic, iwi and communities relationships manager for police.

In a statement, Police Commissioner Richard Chambers said he was only informed last Thursday afternoon that Naidoo was considering standing, and was told on Sunday afternoon he had accepted a position on Labour’s list.

“Superintendent Naidoo has not contacted me directly on this and I am very disappointed that he did not inform me or his supervisor that he was in discussions about his candidacy at an earlier stage,” Chambers said.

“The Police Manual requires staff who are intending to stand for public office to advise of their intentions as early as possible. That is essential to ensure conflicts of interest and work tasks can be managed so that the neutrality and impartiality of Police is not brought into question.”

Chambers said he had no previous cause for concern about Naidoo’s impartiality in his work, and he had been a hard-working and valued staff member for many years.

He indicated Naidoo would now be required to take leave.

“However, given the nature of his role, I believe it is untenable for him to continue with his current duties and that his candidacy will affect his ability to be seen as independent.

“As per the provisions of the Electoral Act which relate to leave arrangements for state servants standing for public office, police is now in in discussion with Superintendent Naidoo about the period of leave he will be required to take ahead of the election.”

Police Minister Mark Mitchell (National) said Naidoo had been privy to sensitive information.

“I am particularly disappointed that Mr Naidoo was recently included in sensitive briefings in relation to public safety and government policy and has been attending events with me as recently as yesterday afternoon,” Mitchell said.

He said he first learned of Naidoo’s political aspirations on Sunday night, ahead of the knowledge becoming public in Labour’s list announcement the next morning.

“The electoral commission advises that for prospective candidates it’s preferable to notify their employer as early as possible, to allow for the employer to make any necessary arrangements for that process to take place, such as leave and reduced access to sensitive information.

“Mr Naidoo has chosen not to do that.”

He said it was for police to consider whether Naidoo’s actions were in line with their clear guidelines around staff “pursuing political matters”.

“In my view it is critical that the public can have confidence that police are politically neutral. The respectful and right thing to do would have been for Mr Naidoo to be transparent and disclose his intentions from the outset.”

He said police must clearly be free from political interference or connection, and New Zealanders would “inherently know that it is not possible to be politically neutral and also be a candidate for election for a political party”.

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