SUPPLEMENT
TO THE
NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE
OF
THURSDAY, 25 NOVEMBER 1976
Published by Authority
WELLINGTON: THURSDAY, 25 NOVEMBER 1976
Commission of Inquiry into Alleged Breach of Confidentiality
of the Police File on the Honourable Colin James Moyle, M.P.
DENIS BLUNDELL, Governor-General
ORDER IN COUNCIL
To all to whom these presents shall come, and to:
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR ALFRED KINGSLEY NORTH, K.B.E.,
of Auckland, Retired President of the Court of Appeal of
New Zealand:
GREETING:
WHEREAS certain allegations have been made relating to the
misuse of Police files or the improper disclosure of information contained therein or both:
And whereas it is a matter of public importance that an
inquiry be held into the allegations:
Now, therefore, pursuant to the Commissions of Inquiry Act
1908, I, Sir Edward Denis Blundell, the Governor-General of
New Zealand, acting by and with the advice and consent of
the Executive Council, hereby appoint you, the said the Right
Honourable Sir Alfred Kingsley North, to be a Commission to
inquire into and report upon whether the Police file relating to
the Honourable Colin James Moyle, of Auckland, Member of
Parliament, or any information contained therein, was improperly or wrongly disclosed to any person:
And, in particular, to inquire into and report upon—
(1) What are the present rules of law or practice relating to
the access to Police files by Ministers of the Crown or the
disclosure of information contained therein to such Ministers:
(2) Whether there has been any breach of those rules with
respect to any Police file relating to the said the Honourable
Colin James Moyle:
(3) What information if any relating to the said file or the
content thereof was given by the Police to:
(a) The Prime Minister in the present Government;
(b) The Minister of Police in the present Government;
(c) The Prime Minister in the previous Labour Government;
(d) The Minister of Police in the previous Labour Government;
and, if any information was given to any of the aforesaid,
whether such disclosure was proper:
(4) Whether any of those people saw the Police file or any
part of it at any time and, if so, whether such disclosure was
proper:
(5) How the information, if any, given to each of them
compares with the public statements in the period since 3
November 1976 of the Right Honourable R. D. Muldoon,
Prime Minister, the Right Honourable W. E. Rowling,
M.P., the Honourable A. McCready, Minister of Police, and
the Honourable M. A. Connelly, M.P.:
(6) The extent to which the public statements made by the
Honourable Colin James Moyle, M.P., correspond to or differ
from the accounts on the Police file and, if there are any differences, the explanations or reasons for such differences:
(7) The sources, if any, other than the Police administration,
from which the Right Honourable R. D. Muldoon, the Honourable A. McCready, the Right Honourable W. E. Rowling, and
the Honourable M. A. Connelly gained information relating to
material upon Police files concerning the Honourable Colin
James Moyle, M.P., and the extent of that information:
(8) What changes, if any, in the rules of law or practice
relating to the access to Police files by Ministers of the Crown
or the disclosure of information contained therein to such
Ministers are necessary or desirable:
(9) Any associated matters that may be thought by you to
be relevant to the general objects of the inquiry.
And for the better enabling you to carry these presents into
effect you are hereby authorised and empowered to make and
conduct any inquiry under these presents in accordance with
the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1908, at such times and places
as you think expedient, with power to adjourn from time to
time and place to place as you think fit, and so that these
presents shall continue in force and the inquiry may at any time
and place be resumed although not regularly adjourned from
time to time or from place to place:
And you are hereby strictly charged and directed that you
shall not conduct any proceedings of the inquiry in public and
shall not at any time publish or otherwise disclose, except to
me, in pursuance of these presents or by my direction, the contents or purport of any report so made or to be made by you
or any evidence or information obtained by you in the exercise
of the powers hereby conferred upon you:
And it is hereby declared that you have liberty to report your
proceedings and recommendations under this Commission from
time to time if you shall judge it expedient to do so:
And using all due diligence you are required to report to me
in writing under your hand not later than the 20th day of
December 1976 your findings and opinions on the matters aforesaid together with such recommendations as you think fit
to make in respect thereof.
Given in Executive Council under the hand of His Excellency the Governor-General this 25th day of November 1976.
P. G. MILLEN, Clerk of the Executive Council.