Months of contact then silence

By the Editorial Team · Sunday, October 11, 2026

Rakesh Naidoo, a senior police officer and Labour Party candidate, exchanged over 500 text messages with Police Minister Mark Mitchell between January and February 2025 before the communications abruptly ended. The messages reveal a close informal connection during a time when Naidoo managed ethnic and community engagement for the police, highlighting a nuanced relationship shortly before Naidoo's political candidacy became known.

Rakesh Naidoo, a senior police officer turned Labour Party candidate, has ended a series of text message exchanges with Police Minister Mark Mitchell that had spanned several months, according to messages obtained under the Official Information Act. The correspondence, which began in January 2025 and ended abruptly in February, included more than 500 texts, many of which featured photographs and personal notes.

The messaging commenced shortly after Mitchell was appointed to the Cabinet portfolios of Ethnic Communities and Sport and Recreation during a reshuffle. At the time, Naidoo held the position of national partnerships manager for ethnic, iwi, and community engagement within the police force. The texts included photographs Naidoo took of Mitchell at various events, invitations to football matches and a wedding reception, birthday greetings, and a detailed personal message accompanied by images from a holiday Naidoo took in Africa.

While the messages were frequent and spanned more than 240 pages, they stopped suddenly in February 2025, coinciding with Naidoo’s initial approach by the Labour Party regarding a potential parliamentary candidacy. Despite the timing, Naidoo, through a Labour spokesperson, denied any connection between the political approach and the cessation of communications, citing shifting police work priorities and changes in engagement as the reason for the drop-off.

Mitchell declined to speculate on the reason the texts ended, stating that the matter was for Naidoo to explain. It was not until three months later that Naidoo informed police authorities of his intention to run for Parliament. The communications offer a glimpse into a period of close, albeit informal, engagement between a senior officer involved in ethnic and community partnerships and a Cabinet member responsible for portfolios related to those groups.

The messages, obtained following an Official Information Act request for all communications with Naidoo across messaging platforms, shed light on the personal and professional rapport between the two public figures during the early months of 2025.

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