Police watchdog prompted by McSkimming scandal unfunded, faces delays

The introduction of a new police watchdog, aimed at building back trust after the Jevon McSkimming scandal, has been pushed back with the law-and-order portion of Budget 2026 “heavily over-subscribed”.

Officials had sought an “urgent invitation for priority funding” in this year’s Budget to help set up the Inspector-General of Police – which went unfunded.

The police watchdog was announced in November 2025 by the Government after a damning Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report into disgraced former Police Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming.

It was described at the time as “the strongest possible oversight” of the New Zealand police.
In a new statement to Newstalk ZB, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said establishing an Inspector-General of Police was “taking slightly longer than we initially anticipated” but said the Government had been very busy, particularly in justice.

“Work is ongoing to consider what funding will be needed,” Goldsmith said, adding legislation would progress in the next term of government.

Legislation was introduced to Parliament in late September this year to repeal the IPCA and replace it with the new Office of the Inspector-General of Police.

Parliament dissolved in October for the 2026 election campaign.

Ministry of Justice civil and constitutional policy general manager Kathy Brightwell said the overall approach and timing “will be a matter for the government formed following November’s General Election”.

The agency confirmed funding was sought for Budget 2026 but not received.

“As is usual for the Budget process, the Government considered a range of competing proposals for a limited amount of funding and made choices about which initiatives to prioritise for funding,” Brightwell said.

Brightwell said an April 1, 2027 start date for the watchdog was identified in the “initial stages” of work.

“Further consideration was given to the proposed establishment date, including timeframes for progressing legislation. The Ministry’s advice was to push out the initially proposed establishment date of 1 April 2027 to allow more time to progress the required legislative changes,” Brightwell said.

In November 2025, Ministry of Justice officials told Paul Goldsmith they would be seeking an urgent invitation for Budget funding and preparing a bid.

A December 2025 paper said the new Inspector-General would require additional funding, as the number of complaints the IPCA receives increases each year.

A separate Cabinet paper from the office of the Minister of Justice said Goldsmith would submit an initiative for funding as part of the Law and Order Budget 2026 envelope.

In February 2026, Goldsmith was told the timeframe to get the watchdog up and running was “incredibly tight”.

A March briefing revised the timeframes to establish the Inspector-General of Police, noting additional funding for the establishment of the watchdog was “unlikely to be available” in Budget 2026.

“Following Budget 2026 discussions on Thursday 12 March, timeframes for the establishment of the IGP have been revised. It is now proposed that the commencement date be [REDACTED] rather than the original date of 1 April 2027. Any new funding for the establishment of the IGP would be sought as part of Budget 2027,” officials said.

The most recent published update, from May 2026, confirmed “no additional funding” was provided for the IPCA or the Inspector-General as part of Budget 2026.

Political parties were consulted on an initial intended establishment date of April 1, 2027, and Ministry of Justice officials had initially recommended a permanent IGP be appointed by that date.

“It is critical that the IGP can exercise its full functions from day one. This is key to establishing an independent identity for the organisation, which is vital to maintaining the trust and confidence of New Zealanders,” officials said at the time.

Labour Party justice spokeswoman Camilla Belich said the party had been supportive of moves to introduce an Inspector-General.

“It’s been months since this Government announced it was installing one, yet no substantive action seems to have been taken. There needs to be meaningful change so that victims feel safe coming forward, and if they make a complaint it will be fully investigated,” Belich added.

Labour said it supported the process in February and said the Justice Minister’s letter from June set out the Government’s plans, noting parties would have their views heard through a full Select Committee process.

“We understand that’s still the case, and Labour intends to take part fully in that process,” Belich added.

In March, officials noted the Green Party and Te Pāti Māori were “broadly supportive” of the move to establish an Inspector-General. The Ministry of Justice said at the time it had only received responses back from those two parties and did not mention Labour.

A May update stated Goldsmith consulted parties in late February for early input on most of the proposals relating to the establishment of the Inspector-General, and “the Green Party and Te Pāti Māori provided feedback”.

Feedback from coalition party New Zealand First was discussed in an earlier aide memoire from December 2025.

At the time, the party was quoted as indicating concerns, including a lack of analysis that transitioning the IPCA into the Inspector-General was the “most effective approach”.

“There haven’t been any other possible models identified or any assessment of the costs/benefits of other approaches,” New Zealand First was quoted as saying.

“There is also no assessment on the mechanisms within police currently that could be strengthened alongside this, or how those units would interact in any sort of ecosystem with an Inspector-General.

“Overall, this is asking Ministers to agree to a model without knowing other alternatives and then saying that they’ll figure out the function, powers, etc. later,” Justice officials said New Zealand First had indicated.