Police minister maintains Sabin silence in face of parliamentary questions

Police Minister Michael Woodhouse declined to respond to questions today about when he was briefed by police about an alleged investigation into ex- Nortland MP Mike Sabin during parliamentary question time this afternoon.

Mr Sabin resigned suddenly from Parliament on January 30 due to what has been described as “personal and family issues,” triggering a by-election that will be held on March 28.

Labour’s MP Kelvin Davis asked Mr Woodhouse “on what date, if any, was the first of any briefings given by the commissioner of police or his staff, to him, his predecessor, the prime minister or any of their offices in relation to the reported investigation into Mike Sabin?”

The police minister maintained his silence on the subject, saying that responsibility for police investigations rests solely with the police, that any comment on any investigation is for the police to comment on, and that it would not be appropriate or in the public interest for him to say whether he was briefed by the police commissioner.

When Mr Davis asked supplementary questions about why it is not in the public interest and when he informed the prime minister’s office, Mr Woodhouse batted away the queries by simply referring to his primary answer.

Mr Woodhouse’s responses – or lack thereof – are consistent with his and the rest of National’s ministers and MPs refusal to answer questions about when they learned of police interest in Mr Sabin.

What has been inconsistent up to this point is Prime Minister John Key’s account of when he first learned of the investigation.

When initially asked by journalists about when he knew about a police investigation into Mr Sabin, Mr Key said he first learned of the MP and ex-policeman’s “personal family matters” before Christmas.

He later amended this to “about the last week of Parliament last year” [Dec 8 -12] and then “very early December.”

When Labour leader Andrew Little revealed his chief of staff, Matt McCarten, had contacted Mr Key’s chief of staff, Wayne Eagleson, about allegations regarding Mr Sabin, Mr Key said that conversation didn’t take place until December 3 – and that Mr Eagleson had already heard the rumours.

Mr Little later produced phone records that showed Mr McCarten had spoken to Mr Eagleson about the issue on November 26.

In response, a spin-doctor for Mr Key said Mr Eagleson’s recollection was that the conversation had occurred in early December but he was prepared to accept it occurred a week earlier.

Mr Eagleson said he’d already heard rumours about Mr Sabin the day before, on November 26 but didn’t tell the prime minister about them until December 1.

On December 3, Mr Sabin presided over the law and order select committee – having been elevated to the role of chairman on October 22.

The prime minister has been criticised for not standing Mr Sabin down as chairman of the committee but Mr Key has said he was comfortable with his judgment call not to.

Labour MP Phil Goff, a law and order committee member, said today Mr Sabin should have been removed as chairman "pending the outcome of the investigation" because “there's a clear conflict of interest that a person who is facing investigation by the police should be chairing a committee whose responsibility is to exercise oversight of the police.”

Mr Key’s failure to remove Mr Sabin as chairman as soon as he learned of the allegations had compromised the committee, Mr Goff said, and the integrity of "parliamentary oversight and the select committee system" had been undermined.