Q+A: Paul Holmes Interview with Annette King
Points of Interest:
Former Police Minister reveals details of high-powered meeting held the night before Urewera raids.
Despite briefing, King was “surprised” at raids the next day: “I had no idea that that was going to be the way an
operation was mounted.”
Expressing concern at police actions, says “most of the cabinet and the caucus were dismayed at the way people were
upset in that community that had to do with anything that had been going on in that area”.
Solicitor-General David Collins advised ministers that the police were right to proceed under the Terrorism Suppression
Act
Helen Clark and King both questioned Collins and were “assured by the Solicitor General that it [The Terrorism
Suppression Act] was appropriate.”
It was “dismaying” to later have Collins say the Act couldn’t be used.
King says “…then to find that in fact that the law we were told was incoherent and they weren’t able to proceed, and in
fact much of the evidence that had been gathered was not able to be used now was a big disappointment.”
“The regrettable thing is that so many people were frightened by the operation,” said King.
IPCA inquiry into operation Eight is finished and should be released.
Government wrong not to reform Terrorism Suppression Act: “we ought to re-look at that law.”
Q+A, 9-10am Sundays on TV ONE. Repeats of Q will screen on TVNZ7 at 9pm Sundays and 9am and 1pm on Mondays.
Interviewed by PAUL HOLMES
PAUL Let me now go to Annette King in Queenstown. Good morning, Annette King.
ANNETTE KING – Former Police Minister
Good morning, Paul.
PAUL I’m pleased to see it doesn’t look like it’s raining today.
MRS KING Well, it almost is, so be quick.
PAUL Do you think the police will have learnt lessons from those raids?
MRS KING I would believe they would, and I think what’ll help the police is the independent police
inquiry that’s been carried out by the IPCA. And I understand it’s finished, it’s ready to be released, and I think it
ought to be released so that we can see what methods they used, the operation itself, whether it was appropriate or not,
and I think the police would welcome that, but so would so many New Zealanders.
PAUL Well, that’s right. Might the police have learnt, for example, that you can’t dress up
in frightening ninja outfits and jump on vans of kohanga reo kids – with weapons – and scare the hell out of them?
MRS KING Well, I think the regrettable thing is that so many people were frightened by the operation,
and listening to the Police Commissioner’s statement today, obviously they regret that as well, so from this and from
the report that we will soon see, I’m sure that lessons would have been learnt.
PAUL Can we go back to 2007? You were the police minister. When did you first know an action
was imminent, that an investigation had been underway?
MRS KING We were called to a meeting – a meeting that was requested by the police commissioner in the
Prime Minister’s officer, actually. The Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice, myself, the
Solicitor General, the Commissioner of Police, and I think the head of the prime minister’s department to advise...
PAUL So, just to get these names – it was Helen Clark, it was in Helen’s office. Michael
Cullen, Annette King...
MRS KING Helen’s office, but Michael Cull... Mark Burton...
PAUL As justice minister.
MRS KING ...Howard Broad and David Collins as the solicitor general. And there may have been somebody
else, Paul.
PAUL OK.
MRS KING We were called to a meeting the night before the operation took place to advise us that an
operation was taking place – Operation Eight was taking place. It was a heads-up that the operation was taking place,
and the reason why was because it was the first operation, if you like, under the new suppression of terrorism act.
PAUL Alright, can I just stop you there? Were you told what the investigation had been into?
Were you told, for example...?
MRS KING Yes, we were told there were serious issues that the police had been investigating, and that
these issues were serious enough that they were going to be carrying out an operation the next day. Can I just make one
thing clear, though, Paul? And it’s often been asked of me why didn’t I interfere in the operation. The government of
the day had absolutely no involvement in the operation, nor did we have any say over the operation, because when a
police minister and a government does start to tell the police who they investigate and arrest, you have a police state.
That doesn’t happen in New Zealand . We were advised of it. We were advised, also, that the actions that were being
taken by the police were the appropriate actions, and we asked questions about that.
PAUL Alright, just let me slow you down there just for a second. So you had been told that
any charges that would be made or the investigation itself had been done under the Terrorism Suppression Act, yes?
MRS KING That’s right.
PAUL You understand also this was the first time this act was being used, is that correct?
You were reminded of this?
MRS KING That is correct, yes That is correct.
PAUL Did you ask then at that meeting...?
MRS KING I understand, Paul..
PAUL Can I ask you, did you ask as police minister at that meeting for advice on whether
such action under that act was appropriate?
MRS KING Yes, not only did I ask, but so did the Prime Minister and we were assured that it was
appropriate, that... And we were assured by the Solicitor General that it was appropriate, and we did question that.
PAUL Alright, alright...
MRS KING And so we took the advice we were given.
PAUL The Solicitor General was in the room. Did you actually turn to him and say, “Is the
action under this act appropriate?”
MRS KING In my memory of it, the first person who turned to him and asked that was the Prime
Minister, Helen Clark.
PAUL And the answer was?
MRS KING Yes, it was appropriate, and so we were assured the actions being taken that day under that
act were the appropriate actions, but the truth is, Paul, we did not have knowledge of exactly what information they
had, what evidence they’d gathered. We didn’t expect to have this. This was a police operation...
PAUL No, I understand this.
MRS KING ...and we were only being advised by courtesy.
PAUL Now, Mrs King, you’ve made that clear. But later, of course, after the great day
happens – the Ninja Turtle Day – later David Collins, about a month later, would say that those rounded up under the
Suppression of Terror Act could not be charged under it, that the use of the act in this case was wrong, that the act
was coherent. Did that dismay you that he should make this decision?
MRS KING Yes, it did, at the time, because we had relied on the advice that we were given that
everything that was being done was being done correctly, and so then to find that in fact that the law we were told was
incoherent and they weren’t able to proceed, and in fact much of the evidence that had been gathered was not able to be
used now...
PAUL So let me just clear this up.
MRS KING ...was a big disappointment.
PAUL Senior ministers that night, having been told by David Collins that the use of the act
was appropriate, suddenly hear him say the act can’t be used. That must have been very dismaying. And then there’s talk
about...
MRS KING It was dismaying.
PAUL Yes. And then when you saw the pictures on the news that night after the day of the
action – the ninja day, for want of a better word – what was your reaction when you saw that stuff?
MRS KING Well, I think, like many New Zealanders, I was very surprised at the actions, particularly
around children, around older people. I had no idea that that was going to be the way an operation was mounted. It’s not
something a police minister gets involved in. And I think many of the cabinet – probably most of the cabinet and the
caucus were dismayed at the way people were upset in that community that had to do with anything that had been going on
in that area.
PAUL Yes. So you’re saying that as police minister, you had no idea and the cabinet had no
idea that the police, in conducting this operation, were going to conduct themselves as they did, frightening and
traumatising so many innocent people?
MRS KING Of course not. I mean, the police carry out many operations, Paul, and sometimes it is with
the Armed Offenders, sometimes it’s with their Special Tactics group. They decide how they do it. They decide what they
wear and how they carry it out. It is not a government or politician’s role to decide how they carry out their
operations, but our role in that is the law under which they carry it out. And that is our role in this...
PAUL And changing our mind on the law...
MRS KING ...and we found out later that the law was not...
PAUL Right. Changing our mind on the law was a problem because...
MRS KING ...was very disappointing.
PAUL Yes, because we never get to answer the question what were these people doing wandering
around in the bush with Molotov cocktails, weapons that kill people, calling themselves a revolutionary army actually up
to.
MRS KING That is correct, and we will probably never know that. And if we’re going to keep this law,
then it does need to be amended, but I gather that the minister doesn’t wish to review it. I gather that the Law
Commission said it needed to be reviewed and has started to look at it. So either we keep this law... But let’s remember
when it was brought in. It was brought in after 9/11, when many countries were aligning their law internationally
against terrorism, and 12 years later, you know, the world is a different place.
PAUL That’s right.
MRS KING And I think we ought to re-look at that law.
PAUL So have the police done damage to their reputation amongst Maori? Yes or no?
MRS KING I think from the statement you had from Peter Marshall, they accept that it has done damage,
and they are keen to repair that damage. And I hope they do, because the police do work very well with different
communities, particularly Maori communities with their liaison officers. So I hope that they do repair that relationship
as fast as possible.
PAUL You mentioned right at the top of the interview that the Independent Police Complaints
Authority – forgive me, whatever they’re called these days – have done an inquiry. Do you think there should be a
broader inquiry into the police tactics that day? If so, what level should that inquiry be?
MRS KING Well, in fact I think the IPCA would have done a very thorough inquiry. Judge Goddard is a
very independent woman, and she’s carried out many inquiries, and I would not question her ability to carry out an
independent inquiry. I think what needs to happen, Paul, is we need to see it. It’s there, I gather, finished. Let’s get
it out there so that the police can have lessons from this and the public can see what went on in terms of the operation
that day.
PAUL Annette King, I thank you very much for making the time this morning in Queenstown.
MRS KING Thank you.
ENDS