Earlier this year the National party completely failed to consult with local Iwi about their plans to explore for oil off the East Coast of New Zealand.
This failure to engage the public in any meaningful discussion resulted in a large and sustained protest that gained worldwide attention.
National sent in the Navy and Police at great expense to the taxpayer, but was unable to stop the valiant protesters.
National sent in the Navy and Police at great expense to the taxpayer, but was unable to stop the valiant protesters.
To combat the negative backlash National have now appointed a former District Commander and Superintendent of Police as Iwi Relations Manager. The Ministry of Economic Development reports:
We have appointed our first Manager, Iwi Relationships. Pieri Munro is enthusiastic about liaising with Māori about the responsible economic development of New Zealand’s natural resources for the benefit of all.
That all sounds nice... but what do we know about this Pieri Munro? In 2009 Apartheid Fort New Zealand reported:
Wellington’s top cop “district commander Superintendent” Pieri Munro is on paid leave while his pals “investigate” him for assaulting his teenage son.
“A Police National Headquarters spokeswoman confirmed a ‘senior ranking member of police’, who she would not identify, was being investigated by senior detectives brought in from Auckland.” Dominion Post said.
“[We are] unable to identify the name of the officer as that would lead to the identification of the complainant,” she said.
There is very little similar ground between Cameron Slater and myself, except for our disliking name suppression when there's no good reason for it. Last year the oily one reported:
There is every reason that we should have concern that there is name suppression in this case since the complainant is the son of Wellington District Commander Superintendent Pieri Munro who is on leave, with full pay. This was all reported in the DomPost and the Otago Daily Times more than a year ago. Why the name suppression now?
Interesting that neither of those links work anymore. It appears that you can assault your ADHD teenage son in a public place and get away with... as long as you're one of the boys. But this isn't the only dubious thing that the newly appointed Manager of Iwi Relations has in his closet. Back in 2008 Aotearoa Independent Media Cetre reported:
Police Complaints Authority to consider concerns about Wellington's Police Chief, Superintendent Pieri Munro.
The Independent Police Complaints Authority has received a complaint alleging District Commander Superintendent Pieri Munro failed to acknowledge or investigate a criminal complaint last year.
The complaint referred to Mr Munro involved serious fraud resulting in a criminal breach of trust. Evidence of fraudulent accounting practice was presented to acting Superintendent Dave Trappit, who conceded there was as case to answer and referred the matter to Mr Munro.
It is alleged that Mr Munro failed to follow proper procedure and act in accordance with his sworn obligations as a Police Officer, to uphold and enforce the laws of New Zealand.
So National's answer to the growing disquiet about their deep sea oil drilling plans is to send in a thug... how do you like that?
