Andrew Dickens: What I make of Andrew Coster's bold claims

What to make of the Andrew Coster interview on Q and A yesterday 

Firstly why did he do it. 

Obviously he felt he had been thrown under the bus by Judith Collins, Mark Mitchell and Richard Chambers at their recent press conference 

So he was prepared to throw them under the bus as well. And he does have a point when the IPCA report did not mention corruption but the politicians and the new police commissioner inferred it. 

The protection of his name is the reason he negotiated with the Public Service Commissioner regarding the delay in resigning from his latest job and frankly I don’t blame him 

But the problem is he has no proof of his claims.  And so now we have a he said, he said situation with nobody able to provide concrete proof of their claims. 

He may have briefed Mitchell and Hipkins of the situation but which situation was he talking about.  

An affair gone wrong or a police force covering up for one of their own. and how much detail of anything did he giver in these informal briefings.  Who knows? 

The fascinating fact he mentioned is that the police is a 3 billion dollar business which makes the job of Police Commissioner one of the biggest in our economy. 

Ask any CEO whether they take notes of any conversation about their business and they’ll tell you it’s imperative.  One would have thought it’s imperative for any Minister of the Crown as well. 

My whole impression of the interview is that everyone was a bit loose.  It’s a tawdry tale of bad judgement at the top of our public service. And the buck always stops at the top

It also reminded me that the political battles at the top levels of our public service are vicious affairs with everyone playing a hard game. 

And with Richard Chambers in a competition with a very competent police officer, who had a hidden sex life and predilection for animals, you wonder how he never knew anything 

One can only hope that Coster and Ms Z find a new normal and peace and everyone learns to take their jobs more seriously 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So what do you make of the Andrew Costa interview
on Q and A yesterday? First question is why did
he do it? Well, Obviously he felt he had been
thrown under the bus by Judith Collins, Mark Mitchell and
Richard Chambers at that recent press conference, so he was
prepared to throw them under the bus as well. So
he did the interview. And he does have a point
when the IPCA report did not mention corruption, but the

(00:20):
politicians and the new police commissioner inferred it, so he
had to protect his name, and the protection of his
name is the reason he negotiated with the Public Service
Commissioner in the delay in resigning from his latest job.
In frankly, I don't blame him. And what did the
Public Service commissioners say about him? He told Mike last
week that Andrew Costa always seemed genuine in all his
dealings with them. So the problem is with the throwing

(00:42):
under the bus is that Costa has no proof of
his claims, and so now we have a ridiculous he said,
he said situation, and nobody is able to provide concrete
proof of what they said or may not have said
at the time. Now Costa may have brief Mitchell and
Hipkins of the situation. But what does that mean? Which
situation was he talking about? How much detail did he do?

(01:02):
Was he telling them, Oh, yeah, Mick Sgibbons had an affair,
it's gone a bit wrong. Or did he tell him, oh,
the police force has been covering up one of them own.
How much detail of anything did he give them in
these informal briefings. Who knows, because no one was keeping notes.
And here's the thing, The fascinating fact he mentioned in
that interview is that the police is a three billion
dollar business, which makes the job of police commissioner one

(01:25):
of the biggest CEO positions in our economy. And ask
any CEO whether they take notes of any conversation about
their business, and they'll tell you it's imperative. Loose lips ships.
One would have thought that taking notes after a conversation
about this sort of stuff is imperative for a commissioner,
also for any minister of the crown as well. And

(01:45):
I'm looking at you, mister Hipkins and mister Mitchell. My
whole impression after the interview is that everyone was a
bit loose. It's a tawdry tale of bad judgment. At
the top of our public service, both the public servants
and of course the politicians. And remember the buck always
stops at the top, and the politicians are at the top.
It also reminded me that the political battles at the

(02:07):
top levels of our public service are actually very vicious
affairs and everyone plays a very hard game. And Richard
Chambers was in competition with a very competent police officer,
Ed mcskimming who had a hidden sex life and a
pre election for animals. But you have to wonder how
Richard ch Chambers in that competition didn't know anything on

(02:28):
what did he know? Who knows who was taking notes? Nobody,
So at the end of it all, one can only
hope that mister Costa and missus z find some new
normal and some peace and everyone learns to take their
jobs more seriously. For more from Earlily Edition with Ryan Bridge,
listen live to News Talks it Be from five am weekdays,

(02:51):
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.