Sam
Sherwood National Crime
Correspondent
Superintendent Rakesh Naidoo first told
his manager he was considering standing as a candidate for
the Labour Party about two weeks before he was confirmed as
a list-only candidate.
Naidoo was confirmed on 8 June
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.
Police Commissioner
Richard Chambers earlier said his
role in police was now untenable, and he should have
told him earlier of his political intentions.
The
police manual said someone of Naidoo’s rank had to inform
the commissioner of that.
A review
is under way into the period during which Naidoo was
engaging with the Labour Party.
RNZ requested under
the Official Information Act all correspondence between
Naidoo and Chambers and anyone else in police regarding his
intention and subsequent decision to stand for
Labour.
RNZ also requested all correspondence between
Naidoo and anyone associated with the Labour Party since
January.
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On Wednesday, police supplied RNZ with the
requested information.
Chief assurance officer Mike
Webb said there was no correspondence between Naidoo and
Chambers.
The first conversation between Naidoo and
his manager, Assistant Commissioner Tim Anderson, about the
matter took place in the week commencing 25
May.
“Superintendent Naidoo verbally advised AC
Anderson he was considering standing as a candidate for the
New Zealand Labour Party, although, at that stage, he had
not decided to do so.
“On Thursday 28 May,
Superintendent Naidoo provided AC Anderson with printed
copies of Police policies, guidelines from the Public
Service Commission and extracts from the Electoral Act 1993
which were relevant to steps that may need to be taken if he
decided to stand for elected office.”
Then, in the
early afternoon of 4 June, Naidoo told Anderson in person
that he was putting his name forward for the Labour Party’s
list, and confirmed that he would be attending a Labour
Party Moderating Meeting on 6 June.
“Assistant
Commissioner Anderson verbally briefed this information up
to Commissioner Chambers by telephone at 3:21pm the same
day.
“In a further verbal communication after his call
to the Commissioner, AC Anderson spoke again briefly with
Superintendent Naidoo.”
Naidoo next contacted Anderson
at about 1.20pm on 7 June, informing him he had been
selected for a place on the Labour Party’s list, and would
make a decision on whether he would accept it that
day.
Anderson then updated Chambers.
About
5.30pm, Naidoo met in person with Anderson and confirmed he
would accept the list placement.
He then sent an email
to Anderson titled “New Zealand General Election
2026”.
In the email, Naidoo said he was standing for
the Labour Party as a list candidate and that his candidacy
would be announced the following day.
“I intend to
continue my service in police, in an apolitical manner until
30 September 2026. I will follow and respect the police,
electoral and public service guidelines during this
period.”
On 30 September he would take leave, before
nomination day, which is 8 October.
“On election day 7
November 2026 I will have an indication whether I have been
successful in the 2026 General Election.”
If he was
successful, Naidoo would “officially retire/resign” on 27
November, the date the official results are
announced.
“If I have not been successful, I will
resume my duties on the first working day after polling day
or at a mutually agreed time with Police.”
Webb told
RNZ that following checks of Naidoo’s email account there
were no messages directly received or sent from or to an
@labour.co.nz address from January until 10
June.
“Superintendent Naidoo was the recipient of a
small number of emails primarily relating to community
events or engagements, of which an email address with a
@labour.org.nz domain was also a recipient; one of which
Superintendent Naidoo sent a ‘reply all’ message to that
email.
“However, it is clear from the exchange that it
does not bear upon Superintendent Naidoo’s plans or
subsequent decision to offer himself for elected
office.”
Parallel checks of Naidoo’s police email
traffic were also completed to check for any exchanges with
any of the 34 current Labour Party Members of
Parliament.
“A total of 239 emails were found to have
been sent to or from @parliament.govt.nz addresses, only
three of which were sent by Superintendent
Naidoo.
“None of the identified emails to or from an
@parliament.govt.nz address were found to raise concern, or
bear upon Superintendent Naidoo’s plans or subsequent
decision to offer himself for elected office. Rather, all
correspondence appeared to relate to the Superintendent’s
role as National Ethnic Partnerships Manager for Police,
many relating to his work with ethnic
communities.”
The review
Chambers earlier said
a
review will be undertaken over the period during which
Naidoo was engaging with the Labour Party, prior to him
advising NZ police of his candidacy intentions.
“That
review will include meetings he was involved in as a senior
Police leader, the information he was privy to by virtue of
his position, and whether anything was shared with any third
party that should not have been shared.
“As a senior
police officer, Superintendent Naidoo was privy to sensitive
information and I need to be reassured information he has
been privy to through the course of his duties has been
handled properly.
“If anything of concern comes out of
that, it will be assessed against the Police Code of
Conduct.”
Labour leader Chris Hipkins earlier told
Morning Report Naidoo had followed process by
informing his manager.
“I think when you tell your
boss, and your boss says, ‘Okay, I’ll pass that on to the
commissioner,’ I think you can assume that that means that
you’ve done your duty of making sure the commissioner’s been
informed.”
He said Labour had been speaking with
Naidoo for a couple of months, and had agreed to a shortened
selection process for him if he chose to stand.
“He
wouldn’t have to confirm with us until quite late in the
piece that he was intending to proceed with a candidacy
because he was very conscious, and we were very conscious,
that the political neutrality of the police is incredibly
important – and I think he’s acted with the utmost integrity
here.”
Police Minister Mark Mitchell earlier 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.”
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