David Seymour was extremely unwise in writing a letter to the police about their conduct during their investigation of Philip Polkinghorne following the suspicious death of Polkinghorne’s wife, Pauline Hanna.
Seymour claims he was simply writing on behalf of a constituent.
But he had a lucky escape. If he hadbeen a minister when he wrote to the police, he would have been under severe pressure to resign today, following the revelation of his letter in the Herald.
That would have caused a crisis in the stability of the coalition Government and a crisis for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
The Herald had revealed that morning that Williamson had contacted a senior police officer about the investigation of a constituent who was facing assault charges. He was gone that day.
The only difference between Seymour and Williamson is not the conduct, but the fact that in April 2022, when Seymour’s letter was written, he was not a minister.
The letter did not have the effect of the police easing up on Polkinghorne. He was subsequently charged with murder but was found not guilty last year after a nine-week trial.
But the letter clearly questioned the police for focusing their inquiries on Polkinghorne.
“Mr Polkinghorne has had a harrowing and traumatic experience but feels he has been treated like a suspect rather than a traumatised member of the public,” Seymour wrote.
He pinpointed various aspects of the police investigation into Polkinghorne’s life which Seymour concluded were inappropriate and invasive to his constituent’s privacy. The letter did not simply convey Polkinghorne’s opinion; it conveyed Seymour’s views on the police investigation. That was not just unwise, it was dumb.
They were the sorts of complaints against the police that lawyers are trained to make, not politicians.
Police investigating the circumstances around Pauline Hanna's death at her Remuera home in April 2021 with insets of David Seymour (left) and Philip Polkinghorne (right).
Composite photo / NZME
Seymour’s letter reinforces the caution that Members of Parliament must exercise, whether ministers or not, in interfering in police investigations or doing anything that could be construed as interfering.
However, Key described it as “a significant error of judgment.”
“The independence of police investigations is a fundamental part of our country’s legal framework,” Key said. “Mr Williamson’s actions have been very unwise as they have the potential to bring that independence into question.”
The heart of the issue is the conduct of an MP. And it should be a salutary lesson to all MPs to turn on their political radars when dealing with potentially criminal complaints.
Seymour was not a Member of Parliament when Williamson was forced to resign in 2014.
He was elected later that year as MP for Epsom but by 2022, he had been an MP for more than seven years. He should have known better. Hopefully, he does now.
