Rainy Day reading —The Spinoff : Ministry of Transport fraud case

The ever-deepening storm centred on the Joanne Harrison fraud case just became a hurricane. Yesterday’s State Services Commission investigation report is likely to trigger a new chain of events that could extend well beyond embattled Auditor General Martin Matthews, writes Peter Newport

### thespinoff.co.nz July 21, 2017
Politics
The Ministry of Transport fraud case: Why the rot goes deeper than Joanne Harrison
By Peter Newport | Contributing writer
The State Services Commission investigation, published yesterday, makes one thing very clear: Joanne Harrison influenced the exit of four fellow Ministry of Transport employees who tried to tell their bosses that she was a fraudster. She managed to hire friends and steal over $700,000 from the ministry despite numerous staff attempting to call attention to her actions. This all happened while she was reporting directly to then-chief executive Martin Matthews, who is now our auditor general – albeit on temporary leave. The Commission has now apologised and is offering compensation to those former staff members. Its report also highlights many other issues at the Ministry, arguing that the 17-year-old legislation that covers whistleblowers needs to be changed and improved.

A second investigation, into whether Martin Matthews is a suitable person to continue as auditor general, is due from Sir Maarten Wevers in the coming days. Matthews is currently constructing his response to the unpublished, but complete, Wevers investigation. He has been given until the end of this week to complete it.

The Harrison case has some similar dynamics to the Todd Barclay drama. It’s become less about the initial problem than how it was handled. Who told the truth and who tried to obscure or even bury the truth. The difference with the Harrison situation is that she is now in jail and the truth is coming out – fast.

The Spinoff has been looking at exactly who did what, and when. That job has been made easier by a new, recent MOT whistle-blower who has produced and provided to us a detailed timeline noting all the evidence, which we publish here, utilising material released by the Ministry of Transport and available to view here. The same whistle-blower has shared a bizarre insight into Martin Matthews’ statements during his time at the Ministry of Transport.

But first, a quick tour of the jigsaw puzzle of documents that reveal a picture of Martin Matthews being given not clues, or hints, but what appear to be multiple solid facts that highlighted Joanne Harrison as a Grade A con artist and thief.
Read more

Founded in 2014, The Spinoff is New Zealand’s fastest growing media startup, amassing a monthly New Zealand audience of over 500,000 in less than three years.
We’ve assembled a team of agenda-setting journalists and critics, working across text, audio and video to create a true 21st century media brand. In just two years, The Spinoff has been nominated for 24 Canon awards, winning six. Our growth has been driven by a creative editorial style and innovative business model, emphasising long-term relationships with like-minded brands and a close connection with a young, educated and urban audience. Duncan Greive won both NZ Marketing Magazine‘s Editor of the Year as well as the People’s Choice title for Editor and Media Visionary in their media issue, July 2017. The Spinoff also claimed the title for Digital Media Brand of the Year as well as the People’s Choice title for the same award.

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Comment received from russandbev
2017/07/21 at 10:52 am

The recent revelations about what happened to the whistleblowers in the Ministry of Transport have, I’d suggest, application in Dunedin. Think of the parallels. In the MoT case a manipulative person with a barely-hidden track record of fraud and vindictiveness as well as a well developed sense of entitlement goes about systematically defrauding a government department of close on 3/4 million dollars. Not through some incredibly complex fraud, but one of simply creating business that didn’t exist and creating invoices from them for services that were never provided. Not exactly something that would take a lot to investigate.

Whistleblowers blow the alarm whistles to their managers and nothing happens and the further up the chain the questions were asked, the more dismissive the denials became. Meantime the fraudster moves against the whistleblowers. The Head of the Ministry moves on to even more wondrous things as Auditor General (is that ironic or is that ironic?) and the Minister dismisses all suggestions of wrong-doing. Even the Speaker of the House who employs the Auditor General doesn’t want to get involved.

Now found that the whistleblowers were entirely vindicated by their concerns and they get private and public apologies and a confidential settlement to, in part, recompense them for their treatment by both a fraudster and by management and governance failures. The Protected Disclosures Act [2000] is supposed to protect whistleblowers in BOTH public and private sectors.

Now, I don’t think anyone is suggesting fraud in the case of Aurora/Delta and that should be made plain. However look at the track record of these companies. A fearful record of stupid property speculation costing many many millions which is still going on thanks to Yaldhurst. A willingness to go along with borrowing to supply dividends to the DCHL and the DCC. Decades of ignoring maintenance on the Aurora network closely linked to the governance requirements to minimise costs, maximise profits and supply dividends to build vanity projects by the owners and now the spendup of northwards of 3/4 billion dollars on urgent maintenance bought about these years of neglect.

And then think of the years and layers of denials that these things happened over. When Richard Healey found he could no longer keep working in the company because of all that was being hidden, he gets vilified by EVERYONE that should have listened. EVERYONE is in denial including his past Managers who continued to receive their grossly inflated salaries and those in governance – many of whom refused to even sit down with him and discuss his concerns.

Am I the only one to see the parallels in how a Ministry or a City company deals with whistleblowers? I wonder if we will ever see similar end results in the case of Richard Healey?

{Link added. -Eds}

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Reply from Elizabeth
2017/07/21 at 1:02 pm

Not involving Aurora:

Charges of Constructive Fraud have been brought, by joinder, against Delta Utility Services Ltd in the Christchurch High Court by the caveators (original property owners of the Noble Subdivision) at Yaldhurst. The case proceeds.

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[decisionmaker.co.nz] formatted by whatifdunedin

█ Transparency International New Zealand
http://www.transparency.org.nz/

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Related Posts and Comments:
19.7.17 Southern Police : Nothing changed since Tom Lewis wrote Coverups & Copouts
18.7.17 Delta | Infinity | CCC staff collude to defeat Yaldhurst residents (again)
23.5.17 Topical debates on Corruption in New Zealand
22.2.17 Some Councils/CCOs get cleanup from FRAUD and CORRUPTION #NotAll
9.12.16 Auckland corruption charges proved —ring any bells? #South
28.1.16 New Zealand local government T-shirt #haze #corruption
20.9.15 Corruption serious threat to New Zealand #CAANZ
14.9.15 Screening tonight: Paradigm Episode 2! Local Government Corruption in NZ #Sky #YouTube
23.7.15 Publicise: laudafinem.org
13.5.14 Stuff: Colin Espiner usefully defines Corruption

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

Southern Police : Nothing changed since Tom Lewis wrote Coverups & Copouts

Remember when Police bought up all the copies they could, and ‘disappeared’ public library lending copies….

Nothing has changed. No-one is policing the Police.
This is the New old news….

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C L O S E ● T O ● H O M E

A 25-year-old woman says she filmed a police officer minutes before he attacked her.

### ODT Online Wed, 19 Jul 2017
Police assault allegation
By Rob Kidd
Police are investigating allegations an experienced Otago police officer subjected a woman to a vicious attack while he was off-duty. The 25-year-old complainant said she was at a fancy-dress birthday party on Saturday night when the alleged assault took place. She said the man, who was wearing a wig at the time, smashed her face into the bonnet of a car before dragging her down a driveway on her front. The pair had never previously met, she said. “He just lost it.” The Otago Daily Times has chosen not to identify the officer involved, the woman or the town where the alleged incident took place. A police spokesman said police were aware of a complaint about an off-duty officer early on Sunday. Police would not confirm whether the man remained at work.
Read more

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Speaking of cover-ups….

After reading the Otago Daily Times (page 3) yesterday, it was interesting to google the name *Kallam Croudis* —there’s a name for Conflicts of Interest, past and present.

NZ Police should sack Croudis. What a corrupting and observable liability—

Det Snr Sgt Kallum Croudis has been criticised over his handling of a case which resulted in a woman’s confession being thrown out by the court.

### ODT Online Mon, 17 Jul 2017
Judge critical of senior officer
By Rob Kidd
A senior Dunedin police officer has been slammed by the court over his involvement in a case in which he had a conflict of interest. Detective Senior Sergeant Kallum Croudis spoke to a suspect at least three times without being part of the investigation team. Judge Michael Crosbie also criticised the officer’s record-keeping and his “casual approach”, which resulted in police obtaining an unlawful confession from the woman regarding the death of a Dunedin man. In his judgement ruling the confession inadmissible [Judge Crosbie] noted Det Snr Sgt Croudis was a friend of the dead man’s father. Southern district commander Superintendent Paul Basham said the comments of the court would be taken very seriously and “the issues raised in the judgement are of concern”. A spokeswoman later confirmed police would not pursue the prosecution against the woman. […] At the May hearing, [Croudis] said he spoke to the female defendant at least three more times before she had a “voluntary” interview at the station.
Read more

Back when, the same, the same….
ONE BAD COP AMONGST MANY

### Stuff.co.nz 01:43, Jan 31 2009
Judge lambasts top cops in damning report
via Sunday Star-Times
The actions of some of the country’s highest-ranking police have been criticised in a damning Independent Police Conduct Authority report due out later today. The report – released after a two-year investigation – makes adverse comments about 10 Dunedin police, including four inspectors, a detective senior sergeant and two detective sergeants. Justice Lowell Goddard is understood to criticise police for their involvement in private investigations of ACC clients – and for how they handled their subsequent inquiries into complaints. The inquiry was launched after conflict of interest allegations that Peter Gibbons – a former Dunedin CIB head who became a private investigator working for ACC’s fraud unit – used his police constable son-in-law to improperly obtain search warrants and seize property from ACC clients. The clients alleged that when they complained, senior police – including three of Gibbons’ former CIB colleagues – failed to act. […] Gibbons, who was a detective senior sergeant in the CIB in the 1990s, supervised three of the police criticised in the Goddard report Detective Senior Sergeant Kallum Croudis, Detective Sergeant Malcolm Inglis and Detective Sergeant Brett Roberts. A previous internal police inquiry showed Croudis assigned Henderson ACC-related cases knowing about his conflict of interest as Gibbons’ son-in-law. Inglis and Roberts conducted the initial inquiries into Van Essen’s complaints. Croudis, Inglis and Roberts have been involved in both the original inquiry and reinvestigation of the David Bain mass murder case. Croudis arrested Bain in 1995.
Read more

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Peanut-brain danger man Jeremy Buis of Dunedin Police….

Stuff.co.nz Last updated 22:36, July 17 2017
Police officer convicted for harassing Dunedin businessman for years
By Jack Fletcher
Dunedin policeman Jeremy Buis was responsible for the more than two-year campaign of harassment of local businessman Daniel Pryde. Jeremy Fraser Buis, 39, was convicted on a raft of charges relating to the harassment of Daniel Pryde after a June 2012 parking dispute escalated. Suppression of his occupation was lifted in the High Court at Dunedin on Monday. [17 July 2017] …. In April, Buis was found guilty of criminal harassment, threatening to do grievous bodily harm and intentional damage. He was sentenced to 200 hours of community work and order to pay emotional harm reparation of $15,000. Buis’ name suppression was lifted on April 21, but his occupation remained suppressed until Monday.
Read more

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Southern Police have a dreadful history including participation in the crimes and events described in Coverups & Copouts, for which no prosecutions have issued. Few street-wise people in Dunedin trust the thin blue line to do their job. Is it any wonder Buis, Croudis and their ilk exist, and what of the off-duty police thug who attacked the 25-year-old female complainant on the weekend?

For these men, Louise Nicholas doesn’t exist.

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### ODT Online Wed, 19 July 2017
Integrity of police threatened
OPINION New Zealanders need to have faith in the police force, a belief that when bad things happen to them, someone will be on their side, helping to right a wrong. That faith has been sorely tested in past years when police officers themselves have decided they are above the law. At the extreme end of the spectrum, in the United States, there has been ongoing debate about the role of the police in the shootings of young black men, in particular. Now, a white Australian woman has been shot in a Minnesota alley after calling the police about a possible assault in the alley behind her home. Most New Zealanders will surmise those sorts of incidents will never happen in this country. But the line between upholding the law by men and women in uniform and them taking the law into their own hands is becoming increasingly blurred. This week, the Otago Daily Times has reported on two incidents which have shaken public confidence in the police to the core.
Read more

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[previously]

Comment by Elizabeth
2017/03/31 at 2:24 am

Calls for a Royal Commission of inquiry into historic child abuse have been rife these last weeks, inflaming social media and mainstream media (MSM) around New Zealand.

Bless their hearts, Lauda Finem, based offshore, banged out a post at their website yesterday that easily sums up the New Zealand ‘scene’. This is a must read.

LF’s introductory comments are provided here, with excerpts of relevance to Dunedin.

[begins]

March 30, 2017 1:14 am • Lauda Finem
Why Bill English & Nasty Nats find Child Abuse Royal Commissions Terrifying
For the past month or so Kiwi newspapers and other media outlets have been slowly publishing stories relating to the growing chorus of voices calling for a Royal Commission into historic child abuse.
The latest trigger seems to have been an open letter calling for the same, although, in our view, a very narrow, much less desirable version of the ‘Royal Commission Into The Institutional Responses to Historic Child Sexual Abuse’ that our Australian PM Julia Gillard was forced to initiate in 2013; which is only now beginning to release various stats and reports on some of the findings and the evidence that has been heard.
Bill English, the halfwit that National decided to replace John Key with, has of course avoided mentioning the apparent success of the Australian commission, noting only that it might come in handy for New Zealand’s state sector when it comes to lessons that might be learned.

[photo caption] Just how much sway has Police Commissioner Mike Bush had on a government that is clearly terrified of any inquiry

English is in fact completely out of touch with reality in almost everything he has said publicly on the subject; going so far as to claim that there is nothing to be gained or learned by New Zealand establishing a similar inquiry.
This is despite the success of the Australian model and the fact that both Ireland and the UK have also conducted national inquiries.
Not only is the National party Government determined NOT to hold such an inquiry, they are also, seemingly, equally determined not to even entertain the notion that the victims of historic child abuse, sexual, physical and emotional deserve an unreserved apology from the crown. They also deserve to see, where at all possible, their abusers convicted and serving prison sentences.
This fact alone should have every right thinking New Zealander appalled. More especially given the likely scale of the criminal offending, if the Australian Royal Commissions findings are anything to go by; there being absolutely no reason to believe that New Zealand’s statistics would be any different to those of Australia.
In fact, if one is to take the figures recently released by the Australian Commission, and then compare them with the suggested 1100 children that the Kiwis say have been sexually abused whilst in care historically, clearly, New Zealand has had a far more significant problem than Australia per capita.
In fact, New Zealand’s problem does not seem to have abated, the country is still in the grip of almost daily reports of contemporary offending; the only conclusion being that the problem is not only systemic but there may be continuing cultural or institutional causes for its existence.

Read more at http://www.laudafinem.org/2017/03/30/why-bill-english-nasty-nats-find-child-abuse-royal-commissions-terrifying/

● To view the open letter and petition go to http://www.neveragain.co.nz/

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[excerpts – Lauda Finem]

The first thing that has to be said is that those who have only just arrived at this cause are only calling for an inquiry into children in State care. This is significantly less than the Australian model which has left absolutely no rock un-turned in its pursuit of perpetrators, cover-ups and the truth.

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The beauty of the Australian model is that it has captured everything, the words “Institutional Response” powerful in who it captured. Cardinals, Bishops, Priests, Religious orders, schools, Teachers; state and private, police, social workers, the scope has been enormous….and rewarding, if the sheer volume of the Commissions results are anything to go by.

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There is some anecdotal evidence that the New Zealand police have in fact been one of the primary reasons for the National Party Government, to date, being loathed to even consider a Royal Commission. First and foremost the absence of the religious organisations stands out like balls on a short haired dog. Second, the absence of the New Zealand police.

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Does Bill English seriously believe that New Zealand Govt agencies, including the country’s systemically corrupt police force will learn anything from the published results of the Australian Royal Commission? Does any New Zealand politician seriously believe that for one minute? If they do then they should be pointed in the direction of a clinical psychologist for evaluation and treatment.

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For both the New Zealand police and the country’s government it’s always been about harm minimisation, not for the unfortunate victims you understand, but rather for themselves.
Until recently, Police Association president for life, Greg O’Connor, was living breathing evidence that the New Zealand police force had gained absolutely nothing from either of the two Australian State crackdowns on police corruption. In fact, many of the gang rapes committed by New Zealand police remained concealed for years after both of those inquiries, some that we are aware of, indeed probably many more, remaining outside the public’s knowledge, the Police Commissioner and Prime Ministers dirty little secret.

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Just how many of these men and woman suffered serious abuse at the hands of paedophiles and psychopaths working for New Zealand Govt agencies, including its police force?

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In short, Bill English knows that once the scale of historic sexual physical and emotional harm to Kiwi children is known to the public the government will no longer be in control of the inquiry. Growing public anger will inevitably ensure that any Royal Commission gets what it needs, whether initially proposed and sanctioned or not, to aid in the job of ascertaining the enormous scale of the problem in New Zealand.

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Evidence of these police and Government cover-ups is to be found here on Lauda Finem, it’s also to be found in a variety other places, libraries and online.
The work of Kiwi investigative journo Ian Wishart, in particular a special investigation Wishart conducted over a two year period, culminating in his 2007 accusations of New Zealand Police involvement in organised child sexual exploitation rings in both Christchurch and Dunedin. Accusations that were never properly investigated by police or the IPCA for quite obvious reasons.
Police behaviour that was at the time of the offending known to John Jamieson, then Christchurch District Commander and subsequently, as Commissioner of police (1984 – 1994), a man who the Catholic Church, following Jamieson’s brief and unremarkable political career, hired with the obvious intention of insuring that all accusations of historic child sexual abuse were mustered smoothly out the back door, much to the Arch Bishop’s benefit.

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Prior to joining the Catholic Church John Jamieson, as Commissioner of Police, himself assisted in concealing, from the media and the public, allegations of rape, violence and corruption against serving police officers, one of whom escaped to South Africa with the aid of at least nine other serving Gisborne police officers.
In short, Bill English, without a shadow of a doubt, is fully cognisant of the scale of the historic problem in New Zealand, in particular the police involvement. He also likely knows that the scale of Historic child abuse in New Zealand is far greater than what has historically occurred in Australia, if only on a per capita basis.

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New Zealand police have in the past used all sorts of skulduggery in efforts to thwart official inquiries into their unlawful practices and conduct, including sexual and physical abuses.

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[photo caption] Two dirty cops: ex New Zealand police commissioners John Jamieson (L) and Howard Broad (R) Jamieson was certainly, without a shred of doubt, a master of the dark art of police corruption and cover-up

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Lauda Finem have in the past written extensively on the existence of these practices and a secret police network, comprising ex police, some turned corrupt private investigators and others turned corrupt politicians, from local bodies right up to New Zealand’s Parliament.

See: New Zealand Police, ODESSA and just how they look after their own

See: New Zealand’s most powerful political force is?

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We would also recommend that readers check out Ian Wishart’s article “To Serve and Protect”, also published in 2007, it’s an eye opener and gives readers some idea of what could be investigated had the New Zealand Government followed an identical path to that of the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

See: Ex police commissioner Howard Broad to head CYF inquiry

Like ex Commissioner Jamieson, Police Commissioner Howard Broad was implicated by Wishart in sordid events which had been exposed by ex Christchurch cop turned whistle-blower and author Tom Lewis.

[ends]

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Quick references:

August 14, 2007
Ian Wishart: To Serve & Protect: June 07
http://www.investigatemagazine.co.nz/Investigate/13956/to-serve-protect-june-07/

Tom Lewis: Coverups & Copouts (Hodder Moa Beckett, 20 March 1998)
The book written by ex senior police officer Tom Lewis traverses the seedy side of Dunedin during the eighties, including the infamous ‘Dunedin Sex Ring’ case.

[promo]
“There have been police enquiries in New Zealand and there has even been the odd exposé but there has never been a book like Tom Lewis’ COVERUPS AND COPOUTS. His story will shock the average New Zealander and shake the New Zealand police to the very core. Not only does the former detective sergeant describe in methodical detail some of the worst coverups in NZ police history, but he punctuates his story in the most compelling fashion. Tom Lewis actually dares to name names. From commissioners to constables, the truncheon isn’t spared. This book will not have won Tom Lewis any friends in the New Zealand Police, but it will finally lay bare to New Zealanders what most had never thought possible of our Police:
* Christopher John Lewis – the truth behind the royal assassination attempt
* Ron Jorgensen – alive and well – and living in Australia
* Dunedin sex ring – why the police copped out
and much more.”

More on police officer Tom Lewis and the Dunedin Sex Ring:
http://www.presscouncil.org.nz/display_ruling.php?case_number=2015
Case Number: 2015 Tom and Teresa Lewis Against Otago Daily Times | Press Council Meeting December 2007

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Posts by the New Zealand Police Conduct Association (NZPCA):

July 27, 2014
INVESTIGATEMAGAZINE.TV publish allegations
http://nzpca.co.nz/investigatemagazine-tv-publish-allegations/

July 27, 2014
Tom Lewis
https://nzpca.co.nz/tom-lewis/

July 27, 2014
“Cover ups and Cop outs” the book
https://nzpca.co.nz/cover-ups-and-cop-outs-the-book/

August 1, 2014
Police respond to allegations and possible publication
https://nzpca.co.nz/police-respond-to-allegations-and-possible-publication/

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Other references:

http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2007/04/the_bazley_report.html

http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2007/05/pca_refuses_to_investigate_dunedin_police_claims.html

[ends]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: deviantart.net – Behind my eyelids are islands of violence by feebeelu

Topical debates on Corruption in New Zealand

At Twitter:

It shouldn’t be career ending to get done over by a crooked employee but it should mean you can’t be Auditor-Generalhttps://t.co/wvMn1dehUU

— Matthew Hooton (@MatthewHootonNZ) May 22, 2017

A convicted fraudster apparently headed an inquiry into workplace harassment just months before she was arrested https://t.co/FqTA5VgyRZ pic.twitter.com/fAKwp0hsuI

— nzherald (@nzherald) May 22, 2017

Other media items:
22.5.17 Can the Auditor-General be trusted to combat corruption?
21.2.17 NZH: Ex Ministry of Transport manager jailed for $726k fraud
26.8.16 Former Ministry of Transport fraudster denied bail

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Read Bryce Edwards’ full opinion piece linked below, and the associated reference links.

It’s Worth Your While Dunedin
Because you know instances of this bigger story, and you know them well.

The following is an abridgement.

This website has bolded some words provided by Mr Edwards and the commentators he cites. Words that bloggers increasingly have a ‘steam problem’ to include in everyday use of the English language.

So much for district heating schemes, eh.

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### NZ Herald 2:48 PM Tue May 23, 2017
Political Roundup: The unaccountability of elites
Politics
By Bryce Edwards
OPINION —How much accountability is there in New Zealand politics and public life? Not enough, it seems, going on recent controversies. Mistakes by those in authority can lead to disasters and misfortunes of various magnitudes. Yet a number of recent examples – ranging from the Pike River tragedy through to the Havelock North water contamination crisis – suggest that there is often a worrying lack of consequences or accountability for the authorities involved.
Following on from yesterday’s Political Roundup column about managers failing to prevent serious fraud in a government department (Can the Auditor-General be trusted to combat corruption?); an obvious question is whether New Zealand has a culture in which there’s a lack of accountability for elites who make serious mistakes.
This need for this question is further underlined by Peter Newport’s strongly argued opinion piece, Is fraudster Joanne Harrison’s old boss really fit to lead NZ’s top public watchdog? In this must-read piece published yesterday, Newport details all of the whistle-blowing attempts to alert Ministry of Transport managers to the crimes being committed in the government department, and how those whistle-blowers then lost their jobs, seemingly as a result. Reading Newport’s account, it seems that much of the fraud was entirely preventable. He asks: “Where was human resources? The Public Service Association? The police? The SFO? The auditor general? The chief executive? This all happened in a modern New Zealand government ministry. In the full light of day.”
He concludes that “the chief executive, and his successor, have consistently refused to properly investigate either what she got away with or the further systemic failings behind the scenes… It’s disgusting. Where does the buck stop and who gets the whistle-blowers their jobs back?”
….[break]
Part of New Zealand’s democratic deficit relates to a lack of a culture of accountability in public life and governance. According to Karl du Fresne, “Accountability, the long-established principle that someone should be seen to take responsibility for serious mistakes, is frequently talked about but rarely practiced” – see his column, Accountability the price of keeping the system honest. He makes some important points about the apparent decline in standards of accountability in political and public life in New Zealand, pointing out that the end result, is “public confidence in ‘the system’ continues to be steadily eroded.” This is a major democratic problem, says du Fresne: “If no one ends up accepting personal responsibility and incurring a penalty, there’s little incentive to make sure it doesn’t happen again. […] Part of the problem is that “genuine political commentary and critical analysis in New Zealand has been eroded almost to the point of non-existence over the past few decades”. This is the view of Bob Gregory of the Victoria University of Wellington, who links the decline of accountability to the decline of public debate and information…..
….[break]
So, does all of this lack of accountability mean that New Zealand is possibly more vulnerable to corruption than people assume? This is discussed by former parliamentary staffer Grant McLachlan in his opinion piece, NZ should raise the bar on corruption. McLachlan suggests that New Zealand isn’t well protected from corruption: “Our processes to deal with corruption are flawed. […] When a judge in our highest court doesn’t declare a conflict of interest, the Attorney-General shouldn’t offer the judge a golden handshake to save the taxpayer the cost of an inquiry. When a dodgy mine explodes killing 29, out-of-court payments should not influence the dropping of a prosecution. The Protected Disclosures Act was meant to protect good faith whistle-blowers when reporting ‘serious wrongdoing’. Poor internal processes, however, have resulted in witch-hunts and whitewashes.”
….[break]
Finally, does the culture of misinformation and opaque politics play a part in limited accountability? Graham Adams thinks so, and says that there’s good reason for being appalled by the deception that comes out of government these days. He says “Kept in the dark and fed endless bullshit, it’s difficult for even engaged citizens to make sense of much in New Zealand’s public and political life” – see: Information underload: We’re all mushrooms now.
Read more

█ Bryce Edwards, until recently a lecturer in Politics at the University of Otago, researches and critiques New Zealand politics, public policy, political parties, elections, and political communication. His PhD, completed in 2003, was on ‘Political Parties in New Zealand: A Study of Ideological and Organisational Transformation’. He is currently working on a book entitled ‘Who Runs New Zealand? An Anatomy of Power’. He is also on the board of directors for Transparency International New Zealand.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

[picdn.net]

Ihaka Stokes case #Christchurch #NZ

A B U S E D ● M U R D E R E D

Toddler Ihaka Stokes was 14-months old when he died after suffering 59 injuries in the days leading up to his death on July 3, 2015

File photo [via Newshub]

30/03/2017
Newshub: Jury retires to make decision on Christchurch toddler murder trial
The jury in the trial of Troy Taylor, who is accused of murdering toddler Ihaka Stokes, has retired to consider their decision …. Taylor pleaded not guilty to assaulting Ihaka on July 2, 2015 and not guilty to the toddler’s murder. Throughout his trial in the High Court at Christchurch he has continued to plead his innocence. Ihaka’s mother, Mikala, was the only other person who was in the house that night, and the defence argues it was she who inflicted the fatal blows. Cont/

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At Facebook:

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Stuff News includes video segments:

Murder-accused Troy Taylor says his ‘conscience kicked in’ too late to save Ihaka Stokes’ life
Last updated 17:38, March 28 2017

Troy Taylor found guilty of murdering 14-month-old Ihaka Stokes
Last updated 18:45, March 30 2017

Father of murdered toddler Ihaka Stokes ‘pretty happy’ at Troy Taylor guilty verdict
Last updated 22:13, March 30 2017

Blood on the wall: How toddler murderer Troy Taylor tried to pretend he hadn’t killed Ihaka Stokes
Last updated 16:44, March 31 2017

Lead detective had ‘terrible dreams’ during Ihaka Stokes murder investigation
Last updated 19:37, March 31 2017

Mikala Stokes seemed younger than her 21 years in the witness stand.
Photo: Iain McGregor/Faifax NZ

Ihaka’s mother Mikala Stokes leaves the High Court at Christchurch.
Photo: Iain McGregor/Fairfax NZ

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Ihaka Stokes’ mother posted pictures on him online.

Fri, 31 Mar 2017
ODT: Mum goes clubbing after court
The mother of murdered Christchurch infant Ihaka Stokes went nightclubbing last night just hours after her ex-partner was found guilty of the boy’s brutal killing. Mikala Stokes (21) posted a photo on social media in the early hours of this morning. The selfie caption read: “From court to club”. Earlier in the evening, after Troy Taylor, the man who blamed her for killing her 14-month-old son at their Christchurch home in July 2015, was found guilty, Stokes posted photographs of her playing beer pong. One of Stokes’ friends on Snapchat, Julie Stechmann, screen-grabbed the nightclub photo, which was posted at about 1am. She told the Herald today that she thought it was strange behaviour. Cont/

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At Twitter:

#Dunedin #NZ 'From Court to Club'
Ihaka Stokes Mum parties after guilty verdict https://t.co/GPuxg9dubW @whatifdunedin @IR_Tyler

— Media Man (@TheWarRoomNZ) March 31, 2017

@TheWarRoomNZ @whatifdunedin @IR_Tyler There is story to her life which I bet ain't pretty – that might explain but never excuse her behaviour – we need to change these stories

— Kim Murphy-Stewart (@Kawanatanga1) March 31, 2017

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Cameron Ellen, right, carries his son Ihaka Stokes’s coffin at his funeral in 2015. The 14-month-old was murdered by Troy Taylor (in purple, centre), the then partner of his mother Mikala Stokes (obscured, behind Ellen).
Photo: John Kirk-Anderson/Fairfax NZ

Mikala Stokes and Troy Taylor together at Ihaka’s funeral.
Photo: Fairfax NZ

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At Twitter:

Why Bill English & Nasty Nats find Child Abuse Royal Commissions Terrifying https://t.co/Ows3x258I5 pic.twitter.com/yKgLVNW17t

— Lauda Finem (@Laudafinem) March 29, 2017

pic.twitter.com/uhZHd21zjB

— Malcolm Justice (@MPD_NZ) April 1, 2017

Related Posts and Comments:
28.3.17 New Zealand child abuse
20.12.15 NZ Police family violence campaign #WalkAway
25.8.15 State Care: history of brutal child abuse #NewZealand

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

New Zealand child abuse

At Twitter:

James endured four years of life — until he was stomped to death. All preventable, writes Jarrod Gilbert https://t.co/8lMQ2UBuz3

— nzherald (@nzherald) March 27, 2017

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New Zealanders are more likely to be homicide victims in their first tender years than at any other time in their lives.

### NZ Herald 5:00 AM Tue, 28 Mar 2017
Jarrod Gilbert: We really must stop this cycle of child abuse
By Dr Jarrod Gilbert
Often when I’m doing research I dance a silly jig when I gleefully unearth a gem of information hitherto unknown or long forgotten. In studying the violent deaths of kids that doesn’t happen. There was no dance of joy when I discovered New Zealanders are more likely to be homicide victims in their first tender years than at any other time in their lives. But nothing numbs you like the photographs of dead children. Little bodies lying there limp with little hands and little fingers, covered in scratches and an array of bruises some dark black and some fading, looking as vulnerable dead as they were when they were alive. James Whakaruru’s misery ended when he was killed in 1999. He had endured four years of life and that was all he could take. He was hit with a small hammer, a jug cord and a vacuum cleaner hose. During one beating his mind was so confused he stared blankly ahead. His tormentor responded by poking him in the eyes. It was a stomping that eventually switched out his little light. It was a case that even the Mongrel Mob condemned, calling the cruelty “amongst the lowest of any act”.
Read more

• Dr Jarrod Gilbert is a sociologist at the University of Canterbury and the lead researcher at Independent Research Solutions. He is the author of Patched: The history of gangs in New Zealand and is currently writing a book on murder.

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Related Post and Comments:
20.12.15 NZ Police family violence campaign #WalkAway
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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.