Deputy Police Commissioner Wally Haumaha is set to return to work after the Solicitor General advised there were no grounds to remove him over an Independent Police Complaints Authority finding he acted inappropriately and unprofessionally against fellow members of a justice sector task force.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she was disappointed with Mr Haumaha’s behaviour, but in light of the Solicitor General’s advice she has asked Police Commissioner Mike Bush to treat it as an employment matter.

The authority, Judge Colin Doherty, dismissed two complaints by a former Corrections policy adviser about incidents in 2016 involving Mr Haumaha’s management of the group looking at improving outcomes for Māori in the justice sector.

But he took her side over an argument in May that year, saying that it was inappropriate and unprofessional that Mr Haumaha entered the argument in front of other staff and team members.

He also faulted Mr Haumaha for a meeting where he sought the commitment of team members to the project, and for forwarding an email from Corrections regarding the analyst’s behaviour, performance and employment status.

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