Stuart Nash is defending accusations of interference with the police after a radio interview this morning where he claimed he had encouraged the Police Commissioner to appeal a case.
Making the comments on Newstalk ZB, Nash said he had "phoned up the Police Commissioner and said 'surely you're going to appeal this'", regarding a case.
Nash is currently Police Minister but wasn't at the time of the phone call.
“There’s been a couple of times when police have put these guys in front of judges, 'cause that’s the role of police and that’s up to judges to determine, and I’ve seen a couple of judgements, and actually one I phoned up the Police Commissioner and said surely you’re going to appeal this," he said.
That prompted the Act Party leader David Seymour to say Nash was boasting of attempting to influence police prosecution decisions, something against Cabinet Manual rules.
“The Police Minister of all people should know that police independence is paramount. We do not want to live in a country where politicians get involved in police prosecution decisions. It wouldn’t be the first time if a Minister in this Government distanced themselves from an issue saying 'of course we have to respect the independence of police operations.'"
Seymour said former National MP Maurice Williamson had resigned over "less", when he was accused of talking to police about the prosecution of Donghua Liu.
“Stuart Nash’s actions are far worse. Number one, he is the Police Minister, who is responsible for securing Police funding in the Budget. He carries far more sway with Police than any other MP. Number two, while Mr Williamson’s actions and motivations were highly questionable, Stuart Nash is not hiding the fact that he attempts to influence police prosecutions, in fact he’s boasting about it on prime-time radio."
In response Nash said he stood by his statement and denies any wrongdoing, saying he was not Police Minister at the time.
Asked if he had interfered in police cases he said "hell no".
"I'm not interfering in any way.
"I thought it was a very bad decision and I stand by my criticism of that case.
"This is a guy who had no license, had illegal firearms and illegal ammunition and guns and the judge said well you were not part of a gang therefore you can have home detention."
Asked when the phone call was, he said he would provide the date at a later time.
"I didn't interfere in police matters, I asked the Commissioner a question.
"The Police Commissioner is a very enabled, very smart man who can make his own decisions, when he gets a mate calling him, questioning about the veracity of a case, it's up to him to determine."
The Cabinet Manual states "Ministers do not comment on or involve themselves in the investigation of offences or the decision as to whether a person should be prosecuted, or on what charge. Similarly, they should not comment on the results of particular cases, on matters that are subject to suppression orders, or on any sentence handed down by a court."
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