New Page 20

Any large organisation is almost entirely dependent upon communication for its proper functioning. Likewise, in order to be able to plan competently the future of any large organisation those responsible for the command function (i.e. Police Headquarters) must be able to understand the difficulties being faced by those in the various departments of the organisation.

The written word (based upon the English language and the necessary grammatical rules of interpretation) is the means of communication relied upon.

In such circumstances, higher levels of specialist education (and an increasingly sophisticated vocabulary) play a central role in determining the ability of those in such positions of authority to communicate, comprehend and assess the value of advice being given and received.

In these circumstances a carefully constructed Press Office & Communications Unit (akin to that of Scotland Yard) becomes important in terms of the careful direction of enquiries and the flow of information to those most competent to address the matters raised.

Thus the Confederation of United Tribes of Aotearoa support the integration of the Serious Fraud Office into the New Zealand Police with one fundamental stipulation:

(i) those with higher levels of education (education primarily referring to formal education and degrees conferred but also possibly modified as a consequence of experience in the field); and,

With this thought in mind, it is the instruction of the Confederation of United Tribes of Aotearoa in its sovereign capacity that:

(i) the Governor General assume ultimate responsibility to Her Majesty the Queen for the appointment and removal of the Commissioner of Police and such of the subordinate appointments as are deemed necessary to foster the evolution of a competent and advanced policing network in New Zealand.

(ii) careful concern is raised concerning the capacity of jury members and our judges to understand and adjudicate on frauds in specialist fields of scientific endeavour (emphasising the importance of vocabulary in communication). It is respectfully suggested that a more competent mode: of data collection for critical information; sophisticated analysis; and decision making, which would necessarily underlie any competent judicial decision in a arena of sophisticated fraud, would take the form of one or more Investigating Magistrates or Sheriffs. Instruction is given to the Governor General to facilitate the establishment or enhancement of this investigative judicial function in a nation where military discipline is in the decline and crimes of dishonesty are increasingly prevalent.

(iii) all necessary investigative powers are to be afforded the Police within the context of this instruction to enable the proper and competent delivery of justice. Large-scale financial crime has the potential to undermine the means by which this country has evolved thus far by amongst other things placing financial resources on a sizeable scale in the hands of people ill-equipped to administer them and unable to give a competent sense of direction to society generally. The circumstances highlighted and induced by the sale of some state assets could provide an illustration of the problem referred to at least in so far as they affected by way of illustration the: skill levels of the New Zealand labour market; and, terms of employment and job security, matters often of little consequence to foreign owners.

(iv) Within the context of this instruction it would be helpful, although not mandatory, for the Governor General to discuss matters such as these directly with the Confederation of United Tribes of Aotearoa from time to time.

We are all weak without the co-operation of others inevitably based upon an inviolable code of conduct which includes the necessity of the careful delivery of justice to preclude amongst other things large-scale theft. The legally enforceable human rights protected by the Police & Serious Fraud Office are the buttresses maintaining the notions inherent in the Protestant work ethic[1] promoting and protecting the benefits of collective effort orientated toward widely held goals (including private enterprise) over time and protecting society from slavery, hopelessness and chaos.

The Government is to scrap the Serious Fraud Office and give its job to a new specialist agency designed to tackle organised crime.

Police Minister Annette King said the new Organised Crime Agency would be fully operational after a year and would tackle organised crime such as drugs, money laundering, cyber-crime, paedophile rings and identity theft both nationally and internationally.

It will be run by the police and will take over the functions of the Serious Fraud Office, which was set up in 1990 to investigate white-collar crime.

Ms King and Justice Minister Mark Burton said a specialised unit was the only way to beat increasingly sophisticated criminal rings.

Many of the current SFO staff would be absorbed by the new agency because of their specialist skills.

The ditching of the Serious Fraud Office has led to concerns that corporate fraud will be sidelined.

NZ First law and order spokesman Ron Mark welcomed the national focus on organised crime rather than a "piecemeal" local approach, but said corporate fraud should not be put on the backburner as a result.

NZ First leader Winston Peters has often criticised the SFO, claiming its 90 per cent prosecution success rate was only because it had failed to tackle hard cases such as the Winebox Inquiry and claims of insider trading involving Tranz Rail - for which Sir Michael Fay and David Richwhite recently paid the Securities Commission $20 million, despite no admissions of guilt.

Mr Mark said lack of skills and time had been a barrier to police investigation of commercial fraud and he hoped the resources of the new agency would help boost its capacity.

Ms King said fraud investigations would not be neglected and were better placed under the new agency.

"Organised criminals have moved on, and we have to move on to keep ahead of them."

Ms King said closing the SFO was not a criticism of it, but the skill of its staff and nature of its work were more suited to the new unit.

However, the new agency was unlikely to have the same coercive powers the SFO has, such as its power to force people to co-operate by providing information for an investigation even at the risk of self-incrimination.

Mr Burton said the powers of the new agency would be based on a Law Commission report on search and seizure powers that balanced the need for investigative heft with protection of basic civil liberties.

Police have welcomed the initiative - Deputy Commissioner Rob Pope said it would help them to better target criminal gangs and was essential to keep pace with organised crime.

National Party justice spokesman Simon Power said it was a step in the right direction but police needed powers for it to have proper effect.

[1] The NEW OXFORD Dictionary OF ENGLISH

Protestant ethic (also Protestant work ethic)

noun the view that a person's duty and responsibility is to achieve success through hard work and thrift.

ORIGIN translating German die protestantische Ethik, coined (1904) by the economist Max Weber in his thesis on the relationship between the teachings of Calvin and the rise of capitalism.

Last modified: 08/15/08

This website is the property of the Confederation of Chiefs of the United Tribes of Aotearoa

Copyright: All rights reserved