The Moyle Report

Press, 17 April 1978, Page 10

The Moyle Report

“Mr Burnside said he did not want to be involved in the political arena in any shape or form. He never supplied information to anyone and would continue that policy. “Mr Moyle said that his letter asked to give confirmation of his statement and he now had to accept the reasons given by the police. Public confidence was : vital, but he felt he had to tell of the area of his concern and that is where the matter rested. “Mr Burnside said it did not give him any delight about the trend of events and he realised Mr Moyle’s position and said he did not know why members of Parliament had to do it to each other and they should realise it would have been better to have said nothing. “Mr Moyle said he regretted any part he had m the whole thing. He said that what he had to say was to give some understanding of his situation when he was seen by Mr Walton. He did not know if the Commissioner was present and 'would not have said such ■things to the Superintendent. “Mr Burnside said in hindi sight he should have told Mr j Connelly he should not be seen by Mr Walton and arranged to be seen by the Commissioner. “Mr Moyle said he had met Mick (Conneily) in the corridor and he had told him to see Mr Walton. Mr Conj nelly did not know the reasons for Mr Moyle’s meeting at the library. One of the 'things they did not do as a

Government was talk to each other. “Mr Walton then said he wanted to make one thing quite clear, that he had never had any connection with the officers’ group mentioned, and that he had never been in the 7th Battalion. “Mr Moyle said: ‘ls that right? I did not realise that.’ “Mr Walton said he could give his guarantee that he had never leaked any infor- . mation to anyone, and had I no contact whatsoever with I the officers’ group mentioned, J or with any other like I group. He said that nobody would know of the conversaItion between himself and Mr Moyle. i “Mr Moyle then said his concern was that the Prime Minister said he would table the file, which indicated he 'had the file. “Mr Burnside then repeated that the Prime Minister had never had the file and' he would get legal directions on any intention ito table the file.” ! Mr Burnside told Sir AlIfred, in his evidence, that he ■ was appalled at the rather outlandish allegations that iMr Moyle made in respect t o Deputy-Commissioner I Walton. “I formed the opinion that the allegations made by Mr Moyle in respect to my deputy were made in an endeavour to justify inaccuracies made by him in his statement in Parliament, and were too ridiculous to ■ entertain.” On the question of the terms of reference as from ' what sources, if any, Mr Muldoon, Mr McCready, Mr , Rowling, and Mr Connelly gained information relating to the police file on Mr ‘ Moyle, Mr Burnside told Sir Alfred he thought the statement by Mr Muldoon that Mr Moyle “had been picked up by the police for homosexual activities” could well be the limit of the general knowledge of the incident. “Naturally I am most concerned at how any knowledge of the incident became

public knowledge,” Mr Burnside said. “At the time it occurred, I was concerned that due to the involvement of a Cabinet Minister and the nature of the incident, gossip could occur. “I have of course considered by what avenues, other than the police, such information could have been made public. “Mr Connejly, the then Minister of Police, was Tn possession of the basic elements of the incident. The file was in his office for nearly six months. “I do not think it unreasonable to expect him to discuss it with the then Prime Minister, and perhaps other Ministers, and they in turn could discuss the matter with associates. The Prime Minister has suggested the press gallery knew of the matter and this could suggest a Parliamentary source.” ■ “There, is of course, Mr ■ Moyle himself. When he 'made his explanatory statement and was aware the I then Minister of Police knew i the facts, he may have conjsidered it in his interests to (give his account to colleagues. ■ “A worried man, as Mr I Moyle obviously was, can say many unaccountable things, and just what his explanation to associates would be at that stage cannot be gauged. “There is, of course, gossip by general police members. The basic elements of the incident were known to many members of the police as happens in the normal ccturse of events. As 1 have previously stated, full details j would be known to only jvery few members of the police. “I am as sure as I can ■ be that the full details, have remained confidential. Therefore the general public knowledge, appearing to be ■ limited, could stem from the j sources I have previously mentioned, or gossip by the ipolice” Mr Burnside said. Mr Walton in evidence to the inquiry, said he had told

Mr Moyle at their meeting on November 10 that he had never leaked any information to anyone, and had no contact whatsoever with the officers’ group mentioned, or with any other like group, and did not know the people he had named. Sir Alfred said he interviewed Mr Rowling and Mr Connelly together after first telling .Mr Rowling he thought it desirable in the first instance to see him alone as there might be a conflict between Mr Rowling land Mr Connelly. But Mr Rowling said he had no objection to Mr ConI nelly’s being present. I Sir Alfred asked Mr RowTing about his knowledge of the police file on Mr Moyle supplied to Mr Connelly on I June 19, 1975. Mr Rowling replied: “As I I recall .it the matter was 'raised — indeed very casually — twice, once when he i (Mr. Connelly) mentioned to me without any comment in detail at all that he had a request from Mr Moyle to ■ speak with the CommisIsioner. No information was given. In fact he did not ■ come specifically to see me on the question. He raised it when he was seeing me about another matter. • “It did not give me any ■feeling of concern, and it ■ must have been within a day lor so that he mentioned that the situation appeared to ■ have been satisfactorily .cleared up, and that is ■ ■where the matter rested. I 'jhad not even in fact dis■j cussed the matter with Mr •Moyle, which in restrospect ■ may seem a little odd, except that I had no cause for ' alarm and I have probably : known Mr Moyle longer ■ than anyone inside Parliai ment.” Sir Alfred said he told Mr Rowling that it “looked to : me at the moment that Mr ■ Moyle had put himself into ■ a very awkward position because he had given four different explanations and they were inconsistent." > Mr Connelly was then I questioned by Sir Alfred.

Sir Alfred: Mr Connelly, you are the starting point in that you did get this debatable file sent to you in June. Mr Connelly: A letter. Sir Alfred: No, with a file attached. Mr Connelly: Oh no, not a file attached. Sir Alfred: Yes. It is all here. Police sent it up and it came back to them after the election. The letter to the Minister of Police reads, “I forward herewith for your information a copy of the (file relating to the actions of • the Hon. C. J. Moyle, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, in Harris Street, Wellington, at 11 p.m., June 17, 1975.” I Mr Connelly: I have no recollection that I had the file. I remember the communication that I got from Mr Walton.

Sir Alfred: Did you ever reply to it? Mr Connelly: Only that I arranged for Mr Moyle to call down and see him. Sir Alfred comments in | his report: “I think it right to say that as my question■ing proceeded, Mr Connelly’s i answers became rather tedious as he seemed determined to deny that he had seen papers which could be | properly described as a (police file.”

He said he handed Mr Connelly the original letter and attached police reports sent to him on June 19, 1975 by Mr Bumside I After reading these, Mr i Connelly said: “Now that I !read that (the file) yes, it would be that letter plus those attachments which I received ... 1 thought in (fact I had a letter. Now that II see it I had a letter plus those attachments. I never : had a file or what I considered to be a file. In fact when the press asked me about a file I said I had had no file. So it probably came to me pinned together. I just had a recollection of a letter at the time.”