Source: Radio New Zealand
Bronwyn Heslop RNZ / Lucy Xia
A former Navy ship commander faced an earlier complaint of unwanted touching before she was acquitted at a court martial of inviting a junior officer to kiss her on the cheek.
Bronwyn Heslop was the commander of HMNZS Canterbury when she was alleged to have encouraged a junior officer to kiss her by tapping her own cheek in a bar, during a deployment in Fiji in March 2023.
She was found not guilty of doing an act to prejudice service discipline at a court martial in February.
The earlier complaint of touching – revealed in documents released by the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) to RNZ under the Official Information Act – alleged that Commander Heslop “placed her hands on a member of the NZDF’s neck and shoulders without their consent and made comments that made them feel uncomfortable”.
Military police found there was not enough evidence to lay a charge, but the complaint did result in “administrative action” taken by command.
The NZDF said a command investigation followed the two complaints against Commander Heslop in 2024, to determine whether there was a “pattern of behaviour” inconsistent with the NZDF’s core values. It concluded with administrative actions, which can range from counselling to warnings.
Commander Heslop’s lawyer Matthew Hague said she denies any wrongdoing in relation to all the allegations.
Heslop became the first female officer to be in charge of a Royal New Zealand Navy vessel, when she took command of HMNZS Moa in 1998.
She became the ship commander of HMNZS Canterbury in April 2022, and the NZDF said she had reached the natural end of that tenure by September 2025.
She is now in a shore-based role in Military Maritime Operation Orders.
Survivor: ‘They hung her out to dry’
A survivor of sexual assault said Commander Heslop was hung out to dry while more serious sexual allegations against men in the military were dealt with behind closed doors.
Karina Andrews had her statutory name suppression lifted to speak out about the sexual abuse by her father, former Air Force Sergeant Robert Roper, which started when she was six years old.
As a child, she was interviewed by members of the Royal New Zealand Airforce in the same room as her abuser.
Andrews, who was involved in the early stages of NZDF’s Operation Respect when it was launched in 2016, said things haven’t improved as much as they should have, and that the “old boys’ club” where men in the military looked after their own was still “alive and kicking”.
Andrews said the alleged behaviour in both complaints against Commander Heslop were not fitting for a ship commander.
However, she said the alleged behaviour did not warrant a court martial, and she felts the military was prosecuting the less serious cases to show they were still doing something about the culture.
“Pretty pissed off that they would use that to say ‘hey, we’re doing something with Operation Respect’, they hung her out to dry, because they needed a win,” she said.
Andrews said if similar allegations were made against a male, it would not have resulted in a court martial.
“I know that there have been some women that have been rail-roaded into making a closed disclosure, because the military can deal with that, and nine times out of ten it is because it’s a high ranking staff member that has performed a sexual assault, that’s still the old boys looking after their own, and that hasn’t changed,” she said.
Andrews said she had spoken directly to two female NZDF staff who complained of sexual assault by male staff in the past two years, who had their complaints dealt with internally.
RNZ asked the NZDF about the allegations of its treatment of the two women, but the NZDF has not responded directly.
It said the sex of the accused person was not a factor in their decision to lay a charge in Commander Heslop’s case.
It also added that members of NZDF are free to report concerns to other independent agencies, such as the police.
Meanwhile, the Auditor General’s survey of more than 6000 defence personnel found that 78 people (1.3 percent of respondents) experienced unwanted sexual activity in the 12 months to March 2023.
It found junior uniformed women were particularly affected, with 7.2 percent of them among respondents reporting unwanted sexual activity, and 24.6 percent reporting some form of inappropriate sexual behaviour.
Andrews said she felt that the unwanted sexual behaviour was under-reported, based on her wide contacts in the military and people who had come to her for advice on how to proceed on a complaint.
NZDF said it had made significant progress with Operation Respect, since the review in 2020.
A refreshed Operation Respect strategy with a 20-year outlook was released in June 2024, it said.
NZDF: Charge needed to be laid in alleged kissing incident
The NZDF said there was a well-founded allegation of an offence under the Armed Forces Discipline Act (AFDA) regarding the alleged kissing incident, and that they were legally required to lay a charge.
It said the charge first went to summary trial, and Commander Heslop later was given the right to elect court martial – which she chose to do.
Commander Heslop’s lawyer Matthew Hague said her decision to select court martial was a necessary step to access her basic right to a fair legal process.
“A summary trial lacks the protections afforded to all other New Zealanders, such as the right to legal representation and a trial presided over by an independent Judge,” he said.
Following Commander Heslop’s electing court martial, a decision still needed to be made by the director of military prosecutions to proceed the case to court martial.
NZDF said allegations referred to the director of military prosecutions must satisfy both the evidential and public interest tests.
“If an accused at summary trial elects trial by court martial, this will normally weigh in favour of laying the charge or charges before the court martial, provided the evidential test is met,” it said.
“As the evidential test was deemed met in this case, the charges proceed to court martial,” said the NZDF.
Law professor: discretion needed in Armed Forces Discipline Act for lower level allegations
Retired Auckland University law professor Bill Hodge sat on court martial panels for sexual assault cases when he served in the US Army.
He said he was perplexed as to why Commander Heslop’s case ended up in front of a court martial.
“I wondered why it is at that level, that’s the most senior level, it’s a lot of valuable time of valuable experienced people, and it looked like they should not be spending their time on this type of case,” he said.
He said the allegations were at a relatively low level, and based on his knowledge of military courts, the allegation of soliciting a kiss on the cheek wouldn’t even have reached the level of a summary court.
Hodge however said he understands how a ship commander can be held to a higher standard.
Hodge said there needs to be more discretion in the Armed Forces Discipline Act, where even if a charge is well founded, there could be the option of selecting a form of punishment akin to “company level punishment” – such as training, warning and counselling.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
