Mark Revill-Johnson: Institute of Driver Educators President on VTNZ officers allegedly taking bribes

More than 300 people in Auckland have been ordered to re-sit their practical driving tests. 

It followed allegations VTNZ officers took money in return for giving passes. 

Five officers at VTNZ's Highbrook branch have been sacked and police have launched an investigation into potential fraud. 

The wrongdoing's alleged to have taken place over a few years. 

President of the Institute of Driver Educators Mark Revill-Johnson told Mike Hosking there can't be any faith in the results of the tests. 

He says it's unknown if they were properly conducted tests according to the rules. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Driver training trouble. There Over three hundred and twenty two
of us have to reset the license after officers allegedly
accepted cash bribes to pass practical tears. Five instructors as
from Highbrook. Highbrook's in Auckland. They've been sacked. The police
are on with Mark Rebel. Johnson's the president of the
New Zealand Institute of Driver Educators and as with us,
Mark morning, Oh yeah, what's happened to here? Do you reckon?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Difficult to say, my just the one important distinction to
draw here. You're talking about instructors. The people involved are
actually testing officers, so not not necessarily driving instructors, but
people who conduct driving tests.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
Right, what's the difference, what's the mat differences? Who take money?

Speaker 2 (00:39):
The differences the instructor instructs the test of tests, and
it's people doing driving tests to get a license that
were involved with it.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
Okay, is this do you think of one off? Is
this just you know, Mike going hey, listen, I've did
this and then Bob does it as well, and suddenly
you got five people in the same office doing it
or is this thistentially endemic?

Speaker 2 (01:03):
It's difficult to say, of course, but we don't know
an awful lot about it. However, when you consider the
number of driving tests that happened and the well into
the thousands weekly, three hundred and twenty two over a
couple of year period is actually quite a small number.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
And it doesn't make it right.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Mark No, no, absolutely not no, I quite agree. And
you know, we need to have faith in the system
and it needs to be consistent and above board.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Reminds me of the time I went to Rara, Tonga
and you slipped the policeman the money you ever done
that and got your bike license to ride around the island?

Speaker 2 (01:44):
About the bike license when I went there?

Speaker 1 (01:46):
So it's so who who's on top of us, Who's
in charge of this and stamps this out? This all
strikes me as being unbelievably third world.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
It certainly it certainly has that depression, doesn't it. Let's
look at what who does what? The Transport Agency are
the regulator VTNS have the contract to deliver practical driving tests,
so they're a contractor to the Transport Agency VTNS. In
this case, I've responded to complaints, They've done an internal investigation,

(02:22):
I believe, and they have passed their concerns onto the
Transport Agency. They've taken enforcement action, btns, have taken employment
action and now they're not has been referred to the police.
So in that respect, I think the system seems to
be working.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
In other words, they got caught, so that's the encouraging part.
I suppose. It's also interesting of the three hundred and
twenty two, if I was one of the three hundred
and twenty two, can you make me do it? Because
I mean, just because I paid the blakes and money
doesn't mean it wasn't any good and it didn't pass well.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
I was correct, But we can't have any faith in
the result, can we. So we don't know if that
was a properly conducted test according to the conditions and
the rules, yeah, or if it was even if the
drive happened properly at all. So the only way to
be sure of that is to revoke the license and
read it.

Speaker 1 (03:14):
Do it again, all right, make appreciate the inside. Mac
Rebel Johnson does yevvinda Raratona. I mean, I don't know
if it's the same now. But you get a scoot
around the island and you've got to pass a test
and you go to the officer and a couple of bucks,
and we're all good to go, apparently. For more from
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(03:35):
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