His return follows months of working remotely while under investigation and the release today of an Independent Police Conduct Authority report, which noted Haumaha had at times belittled, humiliated and intimidated staff in a way that was inappropriate and unprofessional.
But it found that Haumaha’s behaviour - while heading a project across police, corrections and justice - fell short of the workplace definition of bullying, which required a persistent pattern of behaviour.
Haumaha can only be fired on advice by the Prime Minister to the Governor-General, and Jacinda Ardern took urgent legal advice that found Haumaha had not acted poorly enough to be removed from office.
But she said the behaviour was “very disappointing” and made it clear to the Police Minister that she expected better.
She said it was up to Haumaha if he wanted to resign, but Police Commissioner Bush said that Haumaha had not signalled any intention to quit.
“There is a clear expectation on police that they act professionally. I have relayed my views to the Minister of Police and ask that he pass on to the [Police] Commissioner my expectation that he deal with those matters as employment matters.”
Bush, who spoke with Haumaha today, said he would put in place a professional development plan to monitor Haumaha. But he would not disclose what that plan would entail, or say whether Haumaha would attend a course on appropriate workplace behaviour.
“He’ll be returning to work in the New Year to work from the office with his team to carry on the work he and his team have been doing for some time.
“I will put a plan in place and closely monitor with DC Haumaha to ensure the public can have trust and confidence in the entire organisation, including the leadership.
“What that plan entails will be between DC Haumaha and myself.”
Bush said he accepted the IPCA report, but would not say if the behaviour from Haumaha was disappointing.
“Those issues that have been raised will absolutely be taken seriously by me, and will be worked through by myself and DC Haumaha.”
Asked if Haumaha had apologised for behaviour outlined in the report, Bush said: “We didn’t get into those details. We are talking about the future.”
National’s police spokesman Chris Bishop said if the Prime Minister won’t sack Haumaha, he should resign.
“It’s just not tenable that the second top police person in the country can exhibit that sort of behaviour and stay in the job. What sort of message does that send to every police officer around the country, and indeed New Zealanders, when someone can behave like that and stay in the job?
“We’ve been contacted in the last few hours in the National Party by serving police officers around the country who are horrified at what has gone on, and they do not think he should stay on.
“The Prime Minister should sack him, or he should resign. It doesn’t matter how we get there, but he needs to be removed from his job.”
Police Minister Stuart Nash said he had written to Bush and asked how he will respond to the IPCA report, and how he will manage inter-agency work in the future.
“No police officer, at any level in the organisation, should act improperly or unprofessionally and I am disappointed to hear the IPCA found it happened in this case.”
Nash said he wanted to know how Bush will manage future inter-agency work with a clear project management framework.
Bush said he expected every such project to have such a framework.
A government Inquiry - launched after The New Zealand Herald reported concerns raised by Louise Nicholas - cleared the process which led to Haumaha's appointment.
Mary Scholtens, QC, found there was no formal complaint of bullying for Bush to consider as part of the State Services Commission panel which recommended Haumaha as one of two candidates for the job.
Even if there had been a formal complaint, Scholtens found the likely consequence would be any concerns would have formed part of Bush’s assessment of Haumaha’s leadership style.
Bush already knew Haumaha could “forceful” and “demanding”, said Scholtens, because of a blunt appraisal of his strengths and weaknesses for a previous promotion.
Although Scholtens was not tasked with considering the merits of the complaints, she characterised the allegations as Haumaha’s adoption of a “direct, police style-approach” to a multi-agency project “where a more orthodox public sector approach may have been appropriate”.
Her findings are completely at odds with the IPCA report by Judge Colin Doherty. He found Haumaha’s behaviour towards the three women was at times unprofessional and inappropriate for a senior executive.
Three women - two senior policy analysts from Justice and one from Corrections - were working on a joint project with police.
But the trio walked out of Police National Headquarters in June 2016 and refused to return because of Haumaha’s behaviour.
Two of the women laid formal complaints with the police this year after the Herald broke the story in August.
The IPCA, for the most part, upheld their complaints and described some of the incidents as bullying, as the word is commonly understood.
However, his behaviour did not meet the WorkSafe definition of bullying which requires “persistence”.
The police oversight body also investigated complaints Haumaha contacted police staff seeking their support when he learned the Herald was asking questions about the allegations.
Despite the fact Haumaha was acting on legal advice, the IPCA said this was “improper” and staff felt like they could not refuse without fear of repercussions for their career.
Haumaha also acted improperly by divulging private and confidential information about one of the complainants - sent to him by her former manager at Corrections - in an attempt to discredit her, the IPCA found.
The two women told the Herald the IPCA findings were concerning.
“The report describes Deputy Commissioner Haumaha’s behaviour at work towards us and our colleagues as humiliating, intimidating, inappropriate, aggressive, unprofessional and belittling.
“None of these are words that should apply to anyone’s experiences working in the public service, and it is even more concerning when these describe the behaviour of the second highest ranked police officer in the country.”
The women were particularly upset about Haumaha receiving private and confidential employee information from Corrections, then sent the email to others.
The IPCA found Haumaha’s intention was to discredit the complainant.
“We find this nothing short of ‘dirty politics’ and expected more integrity from our country’s top police officers,” the women said.
The complainants pointed out the IPCA made no recommendations and they now want to know what the police intend to do, given the criticisms of the police oversight body.
“We know these matters are bigger than us and we want this opportunity to support other women and men to be safe at work.”
A separate review by the State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes, also released yesterday, found Justice and Corrections did not have robust processes - and poor communication - when concerns were first raised by the women in June 2016.
Both government agencies failed to meet current public service standards, which came into effect a year later.
“But for us the most concerning issue is that, despite what was said at the meeting, no one in the senior leadership within Police (beyond Deputy Commissioner Haumaha) was told about the women’s allegation until early August 2016,” Hughes wrote.
Police were not told by anyone at Justice or Corrections.
Instead, it was Louise Nicholas - a friend of one of the women - who raised it directly with Deputy Commissioner Mike Clement without revealing names.
The SSC view of the decision by Justice managers to not directly raise concerns with police leadership differs from the findings of the Government Inquiry.
“On my understanding of the facts of the various allegations, I consider their approach was reasonable,” wrote Mary Scholtens.
Four investigations in the Wally Haumaha saga
Government Inquiry: Completely cleared the process which led the Haumaha’s appointment as Deputy Commissioner.
Independent Police Conduct Authority: Upheld complaints by two women about Haumaha’s behaviour which was described as unprofessional and inappropriate at times.
State Services Commission: Found Justice and Corrections did not meet current public service standards when the women raised concerns about Haumaha in 2016.
Police: Commissioner Mike Bush will now look into issues raised by the IPCA as an employment matter.
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Comments
He physically intimidated coworkers into submission. He will not be dismissed because this did not happen repeatedly enough. What a disgusting outcome and a victory for workplace bullying.