Police have confirmed Rakesh Naidoo is not under investigation, Labour says

By Sam Sherwood of RNZ

Labour says police have confirmed that leading list candidate Rakesh Naidoo is not under investigation.

However, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says it’s an “ongoing matter for police, and it would be inappropriate for me to comment”.

Naidoo was a police superintendent when his candidacy for Labour was announced in June. At the time, both Mitchell and Police Commissioner Richard Chambers claimed he should have declared his intentions earlier.

Last month, Mitchell said there was an “ongoing matter” in relation to Naidoo, but would not say what it was.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said in response that he had “absolute confidence in Rakesh Naidoo”.

“He has behaved with absolute integrity throughout this process.”

Hipkins said Mitchell “should not be using his position as Minister of Police to make unsubstantiated insinuations against the character of a rival political candidate”.

“Neither Mr Naidoo nor the Labour Party have any idea what is actually being alleged.

“The police need to front up here and explain what is going on.”

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has said he has "absolute confidence in Rakesh Naidoo". Photo / Cameron Pitney

This week, Labour told RNZ that they had spoken to police and could confirm Naidoo “is not under investigation”.

“Rakesh has handled himself with dignity and integrity over the past few months and is focused on campaigning for Labour.”

Today, Mitchell reiterated his claim of an “ongoing matter for police”.

“As I have previously said, this does not relate to the Labour Party, and they should not be commenting on matters that do not involve them,” he told RNZ.

Asked for comment, a police spokesperson said “police do not comment on employment matters”.

An internal review after Naidoo’s candidacy was announced concluded that he had complied with police policy, though it noted it would have been “prudent” for him to have given his superiors more warning.

In response to media questions last month, Mitchell said there were “two or three different facets to this situation”.

“And they have dealt with one of them.”

Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Photo / Mark Mitchell

After the review’s findings were announced, Mitchell confirmed to RNZ that he had two phone calls with Chambers on June 8 and 9.

“[The calls] were to discuss the situation, including the response to media queries, concerns the minister held in relation to the disclosure timeline, including pre-existing concerns regarding a sensitive briefing Mr Naidoo had attended with the minister prior to Mr Naidoo advising anyone at police of his political intentions.”

Mitchell declined to release information in relation to the sensitive briefing under section 6(c) of the Official Information Act (OIA).

Section 6(c) relates to prejudicing the maintenance of the law, including the prevention, investigation and detection of offences, and the right to a fair trial.

Mitchell’s office earlier told RNZ that the grounds for withholding information under section 6(c) of the OIA still applied.

Mitchell referred to the OIA again last month, saying “the OIA is very clear: it says there’s matters that can’t be disclosed because there’s an ongoing matter”.

He said he could not comment further.

In response, Hipkins said Mitchell had “crossed a line here”.

“He is the Minister of Police, and he is using that office to spread claims about a Labour candidate who doesn’t even know what the specific accusation against him is. You cannot use the power of the police portfolio to invent allegations against political opponents.

“Mark Mitchell should be ashamed of himself. Mark Mitchell should not be commenting, directing or be privy to police employment matters.”

  
This story was first published on rnz.co.nz