The Dominion Post
February 24, 2004

The perpetual public servant
by Mary Jane Boland

At 66, Dame Margaret Bazley has done her fair share of investigations into the doings of the public service. Now she has been given another task -- to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct in the police. Mary Jane Boland assesses the woman who could be called the Lazarus of the public service.

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File pictures of Dame Margaret Bazley show a rather motherly-looking soul, dressed conservatively.

The usually neutral, tailored clothes were most obvious when she took over from former Work and Income chief executive Christine Rankin, the flamboyant public servant who turned Wellington on its ear with her orange and black suits and earlobe lengthening earrings.

Orange and black would hardly suit Dame Margaret, who has had more comebacks than Lazarus.

It is perhaps the desire not to attract attention that made her one of the finest public servants of her generation, as State Services Commissioner Michael Wintringham described her when she retired in 2001.

She told the Evening Post on her retirement: "People tend to focus on the glitches but it's largely been 20 years of non-event. That's how you measure the success of a public servant."

A spokeswoman for the Fire Ser vice Commission, where Dame Margaret is chairwoman, said when approached for this article she was refusing all interviews. That withdrawal from publicity will be increasingly important as Dame Margaret fills the mandate of commissioner for the Government's commission of inquiry into alleged sexual misconduct in the police.

Prime Minister Helen Clark appointed Dame Margaret and High Court judge Justice Bruce Robertson as commissioners last week. Their inquiries will focus on police processes and culture, against the backdrop of rape and a cover-up alleged by Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas.

Mrs Nicholas says she was pack-raped by three men, Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards and former officers Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum, in 1986. All three deny the allegation.

Miss Clark has urged anyone with a complaint involving sexual misconduct by police to come forward. The commission of inquiry has nine months to hold hearings before reporting back to the Government.

So why pick Dame Margaret for the job?

With a history of helping to deal with curly issues in the public sector, such as protracted firefighter and teacher pay talks, she has a reputation of being tough but fair.

Most of the groups approached for comment on Dame Margaret either refused or failed to return calls, a sign perhaps that they want her to get on with the job.

Or was it a case of not having anything nice to say?

She certainly did not make friends with firefighters in her early days as chairwoman of the Fire Service Commission, even getting death threats and bullets in the mail. The firefighters did manage, however, eventually to settle their decade-long pay dispute under her oversight.

So, too, did secondary teachers after she was called in to chair an arbitration taskforce charged with helping the Government and the Post Primary Teachers Association to settle their 16-month pay dispute in 2002. Education Minister Trevor Mallard said cabinet ministers gasped when told of the taskforce's recommendations to bump teachers' pay up a grade. The recommendations came at a cost of $250 million -- $70 million more than he had expected.

Dame Margaret has also been a member of the Waitangi Tribunal since 2001.

Her inquiry into allegations of police misconduct, like others she has been involved with, is likely to draw a huge emotional response. The wider issues, such as police culture in the 1980s, will be scrutinised carefully.

Associate Professor Bill Ryan, director of programmes at Victoria University's School of Government, said the Government had to choose a woman for the inquiry because it was important to have someone with an espoused feminist position, especially when handling the sensitive sexual issues that will undoubtedly arise.

Dr Ryan said Dame Margaret had a reputation for being tough when required but also fair. She also had high integrity.

"I suspect that Dame Margaret can be relied upon to tackle the tough issues and to tackle them fairly.

"There can be a difference between the exercise of wisdom and the exercise of fairness. Whether Dame Margaret will bring wisdom to the commission's deliberations we'll have to wait and see, but, based on her track record, I'm sure it will be fair."

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THE PERPETUAL PUBLIC SERVANT

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Dame Margaret Bazley, 66

Former psychiatric nurse, Health Department nursing division boss

1984: First female commissioner at State Services Commission, appointed SSC deputy in 1987.

1988: Secretary for Transport.

1993: Social Welfare head.

1999: Made a dame for services to the public service.

1999: Fire Service Commission chair, helped settle deadlocked contract dispute.

2001: Replaced Christine Rankin as Work and Income boss.

2001: Waitangi Tribunal member.

2002: Head of arbitration panel to settle long-time pay dispute between government and secondary teachers' union, later chaired taskforce aimed at settling problems arising from the 16-month row.

2004: Appointed co-commissioner for Government Commission of Inquiry into alleged police sexual misconduct, resulting from allegations made by Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas.

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CAPTION:

Model of discretion: Dame Margaret's desire not to attract attention, reflected in her neutral attire, will be important in her new role.