Top naval officer and Commander of the HMNZS Canterbury Bronwyn Heslop is under investigation.
A New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) spokesman said Heslop had not been removed from command, but there was another Acting Commanding Officer on an interim basis.
“Commander Martin Walker is the Acting Commanding Officer on an interim basis,” the spokesman said.
The NZDF did not address specific allegations against Heslop the Herald put to them, saying " it is ... not appropriate to comment further” while the investigation continued.
Heslop was the first woman appointed to be the officer in charge of a vessel, on the HMNZS Moa in 1998.
Heslop specialised in hydrography (measurement and description of the sea floor), navigation and meterology.
Speaking to the Royal Navy’s internal magazine Navy Today in 2022, Heslop called the HMNZS Canterbury “the pinnacle of seamanship”, adding “it’s the perfect platform and I love how she is the only true ‘joint’ ship. She pulls Air Force and Army in with Navy to make a whole force for good”.
Heslop told Navy Today she brought a “feminine touch” to the Canterbury.
“My three pet peeves – leaning on guardrails, hands in pockets, chewing of gum. The ship already runs very well, she’s a very happy ship. It’s not about changing anything. I’m just bringing that old-fashioned Navy and standards but delivered with a feminine touch,” she told the magazine.
Heslop was determined to join the Royal Navy since she attended Rotorua Girls’ High School.
Earlier this year, a group of Navy recruits caught sharing “extreme” sexual and violent imagery involving animals and children avoided a court martial because it was considered there was no “public interest” in a prosecution.
Yet an agency fighting the sexual exploitation of children said being found with such images could have led to up to 14 years in prison in the civilian system of justice.
“This makes me question the efficacy of the military justice system in dealing with such offences and appropriately addressing it in a way that respects the level of harm caused to the victims featured in this online content,” said Synteche Collins, acting director of Ecpat NZ.
In this case, one of the five left the Navy so received no punishment. Of the remaining four, the decision to not carry out a court martial saw them dealt with through the military’s “summary trial” system.
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