Barry Soper: Wally Haumaha affair has been a mess from the start

COMMENT:

Wally Haumaha, the man controversially appointed as the Deputy Commissioner of Police recently, is apparently good at virtually everything.

From leadership to public speaking, from criminal investigations to firearms, he's got the endorsement of Pauline Kingi, who's been selected by the Government to inquire into whether the process to appoint him as the 2IC to the Commissioner was done in the right way.

Did the Police Minister know he was a Louise Nicholas sceptic, saying of her rape claims, that nothing really happened and adding "we have to stick together"? A couple of officers were sent down for another rape, with their friend Haumaha describing one as a big softie and the other a legend with women.

The endorsements from Kingi came on the LinkedIn career website. She gave him her tick of approval on all the skills he's listed as having. She's the only one to endorse him for firearms, security and workshop facilitation, so if the endorsements mean anything, she knows him better than others.

So can she be an impartial adjudicator of whether the process to appoint him was above board? It's even questionable whether the Minister who gave her the job - Tracy Martin, who was on the board of New Zealand First when Haumaha had a crack at getting into Parliament for the party - should have been in charge of that process.

Martin did raise eyebrows in Parliament over whether Kingi should be in the role, saying on LinkedIn 15 years ago all professional Māori endorsed each other, which if true doesn't say a lot for discernment. And the endorsements by Haumaha of Kingi weren't nearly as enthusiastic as hers were of him.

Then it was correctly pointed out by National MP Chris Bishop that the endorsement process on LinkedIn didn't begin until six years ago. Bishop says Kingi's unsuitable for the job and should be replaced.

This whole thing has been a mess from the start. Commissioner Mike Bush was on the panel selecting Haumaha for the job, and it's been claimed he apparently knew of his views on the Nicholas case and was warned about the damage that could be done if the promotion went ahead.

The Minister who recommended the appointment Stuart Nash has adopted the Sergeant Schultz approach about everything from the start, insisting he knows nothing but admitting if things had been different the outcome may not have been the same.

Kingi's inquiry is scheduled to begin next week and run for six weeks - let's hope the outcome isn't as confusing and muddy as the establishment of the inquiry's been.