The Dominion Post
May 13, 2004

Limits on pack rape inquiry

The commission of inquiry into allegations of a police pack rape has had some limits placed on its ability to disclose evidence to the public.

MPs last night agreed to surprise changes to a proposed law retrospectively scrapping the privacy of evidence to the Police Complaints Authority. The Government wants the commission to see files covered by secrecy provisions so it can get to the bottom of allegations of police misconduct.

ACT MP Stephen Franks told Parliament he was concerned a retrospective repeal of confidential evidence laws would undermine the authority's work.

He put forward a clause that would require the authority not to disclose information unless it had received some assurances from the commission.

The assurances would include the commission taking "all steps necessary or desirable to protect" the confidential nature of information from the authority.

The prohibitions could be waived by those who had given the original evidence to authority.

Mr Franks said there would be a lot of media pressure on the commission for all hearings and evidence to be public, and this could have the effect of undermining the work of the authority.

People who spoke to the authority had done so on the understanding that their identities were confidential. To undermine that would be unfair and would also deter others giving evidence in the future, Mr Franks said.

Complete disclosure was not necessarily in the public interest or needed for the commission to do its job properly.

"It [the changes] will assist the commission to withstand pressures for unnecessary public disclosure. The commission should have an express duty to minimise damage to the reputation of government from reneging o