Chris Hipkins: Labour Leader on Superintendent Rakesh Naidoo standing for Labour, policy announcement
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Why is Superintendent Rakesh Naidoo's candidacy significant for Labour?
Back to the business of Labour's new star recruit. Police Commissioner Richard Chambers says it is untenable for Superintendent Rakesh Naidoo to stay in his job after being announced on the Labour list yesterday. Chris Hipkins is the Labour leader. Morning, Chippy. Good morning, Heather. Are you disappointed this has played out so badly for you guys?
Well, I'm disappointed for Rakesh Naidoo, who's done everything right. He's acted with the utmost integrity through this process. As we said when we announced his candidacy yesterday, He's worked very hard to preserve the political independence of the police and acknowledged right up front that he would now have to work through a process with the police commissioner about transitioning out of his work with the police.
What challenges does Rakesh Naidoo face after joining Labour?
When did you guys first start talking to him?
We've had some informal conversations with him over the last couple of months. We did agree that we would run a different process should he decide to pursue a candidacy, which is not for him to go through the full process where he has to show up to all the regional meetings and so on. That we would have a much shorter process for him that basically kicked off last week and really kicked off on Saturday when he met with the committee putting together the list. He didn't go through the other process because, you know, we've got to recognise when someone steps out of a role like this, you do have to preserve the independence.
Fair enough. And look, I'm not expecting that he needs to go talk to his bosses the minute the thought occurs to him back in April. But when did he make the decision that, yes, he was going to stand for the Labour Party?
We basically gave him until last week to indicate that he definitely wanted to proceed. The meeting was over the weekend, so we wanted to know in advance of that.
How did Chris Hipkins express his disappointment regarding Naidoo's situation?
And when did he tell you? He confirmed with us last week at the same time as he confirmed with us that he definitely wanted to go ahead. He told his employer at police at that time.
So that's Thursday, Wednesday, Thursday?
I think he told them earlier in the week. I think he told his supervisor earlier in the week. But I mean, I'm confident that he's acted with integrity around the way he's handled this and that he's certainly been very conscious that the police is a politically independent organisation.
That's really last minute. Like that is really leaving it to the last minute. You guys, if you want us to believe that he only decided last week he wanted to stand for you and then he was selected on Sunday, then you're telling me you gave him some very special treatment here.
We did certainly have a much shorter process for him. We'd had a couple of conversations over the last few months where he'd indicated that he was open to thinking about that and he was giving it some thought. But we really did say to him that he wouldn't need to confirm until very late in the piece. And that was because he was working for the police and you do have to have a different process where someone's doing those kind of jobs.
You've got tax relief coming tomorrow?
No, look, I think Kingi Kiriona probably chose some words unfortunate in the press conference that we did the other day. We've been clear that cost of living is a focus. There'll be some cost of living relief coming from the Labour Party during the campaign.
And I think he was reflecting... But are you going to do it via some sort of a tax mechanism like Nicola Willis has done through Working for Families?
That's certainly not what our announcement this week is.
What steps did Labour take in the process of Naidoo's candidacy?
We're going to be talking about the cost of living and the things that we can do to support people.
So you're making a cost of living announcement this week?
we are making an announcement that will have an impact on household cost of living issues.
So, Chippy, are you telling me that after months of us waiting for you people to come up with a policy, the policy that you're coming up with is giving people free money again, spending?
You just have to wait and see what the policy is, but it will have a cost of living impact for a Kiwi family.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
Why is Superintendent Rakesh Naidoo's candidacy significant for Labour?
0:00–0:39
2
What challenges does Rakesh Naidoo face after joining Labour?
0:39–1:31
3
How did Chris Hipkins express his disappointment regarding Naidoo's situation?
1:31–3:01
4
What steps did Labour take in the process of Naidoo's candidacy?
3:01–6:37
Speakers
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