In its report, released Thursday afternoon, the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) said its process and procedures were “sound” but could, and would, be strengthened.
It makes 14 recommendations, including striking an arrangement with police to ensure they immediately alert the Government if they access a DIA-issued device.
“DIA has already started to implement the recommendations and will continue to work with other agencies to ensure that the lessons learned are shared and acted upon,” deputy secretary for partnerships and commissions Hoani Lambert said.
‘No surprises’ convention should have been activated - report
The DIA report said police should have notified ministers, given their awareness of Forbes’ identity and his senior role, as well as the fact they examined his DIA-owned device.
“The ‘no surprises’ convention should have been activated,” the report said.
Documents released under the Official Information Act in August revealed police immediately escalated the case to the police executive, but it was not passed on to the Beehive.
The report recommended DIA and the police develop a “memorandum of understanding” to ensure better information-sharing when staff in ministerial offices were investigated or charged.
Responding to questions from RNZ, police referred to previous comments from Commissioner Richard Chambers that it was up to the executive of the day to decide when to alert ministers.
“Commissioner Chambers has also made it clear that, while not privy to the conversations at the time, if a similar event happened when he was commissioner, he would escalate it,” chief operating officer Andrea Conlan said.
“The commissioner did advise the Government of it as soon as he became aware of it earlier this year.”
At the time of the Forbes investigation, the police executive included then-Commissioner Andrew Coster and deputies Jevon McSkimming and Tania Kura.
Coster and McSkimming have since resigned and Kura will retire in November. Coster has previously said he was unaware of the case and was on leave at the time.
Gaps in vetting and hiring
The DIA report said people applying for jobs in the Beehive had to undergo a criminal check and serious misconduct check but were not explicitly asked about their character or conduct.
Nor were they vetted by police. The report recommended that DIA investigate whether that would be feasible.
“This service would provide a broader understanding of information about candidates – including pending charges, investigations, infringement offences etc – prior to DIA making an offer of employment.”
The report also suggested all candidates for senior ministerial offices be required to have “secret” or “top secret” security clearance before starting a job.
It said all staff with security clearance should also be checked annually for any change in their circumstances.
– RNZ
