David Shearer, a former Labour MP and Oppositionleader, recently concluded heading the United Nations mission in South Sudan amid working for about 20 years co-ordinating aid in a host of countries including Rwanda, Somalia, Iraq, and Sierra Leone.
It was during that work he interacted with many companies akin to Mitchell’s and said Andersen’s recent claim that the current Police Minister was “paid to kill people” is not a fair description of the work those companies do.
“I think that’s over the top and pretty divorced from reality, it would be better if she had sat down and had a chat with Mark and understood exactly how it works.
“When you’re on the ground, you actually have to have security otherwise you can’t work on the ground, it’s as simple as that.”
Mitchell spent about eight years in the Middle East, including doing hostage negotiation work and logistics. He said there was only one instance he was forced to use a weapon - during a five-day siege on a compound he was charged to protect.
Shearer said it was common for security companies to use force only when required.
“For the most part, the security companies did not engage in any type of offensive operation at all, they would only operate as security to defend and secure premises, convoys, things like that.
“But if they were attacked, they were entitled to defend themselves.”
Former Labour Party leader David Shearer, who led the UN mission in civil war-ravaged South Sudan.
He acknowledged there was a small minority of companies that threw the industry into disrepute, citing the deadly 2007 shooting in Baghdad’s Nisour Square conducted by members of the now-defunct American private military company Blackwater.
“Given what I think Mark’s company was doing, it was pretty much what I would call a run-of-the-mill security company.
“It would have been doing passive security operations that basically entailed securing goods, compounds, embassies from attack and the only time they would have used their weapons would have been if they came under attack themselves.”
Former Police Minister Ginny Andersen has apologised for her comments. Photo / Mike Scott
Andersen, who made the comments on Wednesday while speaking on Newstalk ZB, had also asked Mitchell whether he’d kept a tally of how many people he’d shot.
Shearer said he felt her knowledge of security work in such areas was lacking and should learn more about it.
“Without understanding the reality, I suggest that you can’t really make those sorts of comments because you really don’t know and I think Ginny doesn’t really know and it’s probably better to stop digging and to understand what the reality is.
“It might look like something from a distance but believe me, when you’re in the operation and you’re in Iraq and you’re in Somalia and you want to save lives and you want to move goods from place to place, you’re going to have to have security.”
Andersen declined a request to be interviewed.
Yesterday, Andersen issued a statement in which she didn’t apologise but acknowledged her comments “crossed a line”.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins also said her comments went too far.
Mitchell said she had texted him to apologise but he didn’t believe it was sufficient, saying the apology should be made in-person.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell says he is proud of his work overseas. Photo / Mark Mitchell
He had earlier said he was proud of the work he did overseas, which included protecting diplomats and freeing supplies from gang-controlled ports.
Speaking to Newstalk ZB on Wednesday, Mitchell said he was unsure whether he had killed anyone during a multi-day assault on his compound - the only time he’d used a weapon while working overseas.
“We had to defend our position, there [were] casualties on both sides, I don’t know how many people were killed and I don’t know whether I was responsible for any of that,” Mitchell said.
He referenced a point during the siege when those in the compound shot at a truck containing explosives, which was an attempt by the militia to breach the compound.
“We shot it into the engine block, we stopped the truck, we were defending the compound. Had the compound been overrun, which some of them were, then it’s highly likely no one would have survived.”
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
