Look, you realize he's won a big victory today, don't you? Cause it's a big admission from the Public Service commissioner today that Andrew Coster didn't do anything wrong himself.
He hadn't committed any personal wrongdoing and it's a big admission also that there was no cover-up.
And the reason that it's a big admission is because of the number of times lots of ministers and also the new police commissioner went out there in media and said cover up, cover up, cover up, and then also in some cases said corruption.
Now what I think this proves is exactly what I had intimated a few weeks ago.
Yes, this was a scandal, but it was not the A plus plus plus plus plus plus scandal that these guys were kind of racking it up to be.
That was politics. They wanted to play the game of the bad guys are out, we're the new guys, it's a new broom, that kind of thing.
I didn't rate Andrew Coster as a police commissioner. I think he was rubbish at that job, but I always thought that he would be good at running the social investment agency because he's the kind of guy that likes the warm fuzzies and the early intervention, which is what the social investment agency was.
It was never about hard policing.
He was about warm fuzzies, the Social Investment agency is about warm fuzzies.
So it is in a way a pity that the warm fuzzies guy cannot lead the warm fuzzies agency anymore.
But ultimately, like Brian Roach said, he had to go because even though he did nothing wrong, the buck stopped with him at the police, and he made a series of bad calls that meant none of us could ever fully trust his judgment again.
And he was going to be a political target.
Who wants to be the minister or the government that protects the guy that protected Jevon McSkimming, even if he's the guy who didn't know that he was protecting the bad guy?
And ultimately, we've probably got away lightly.
I didn't want to have to pay him $124,000 but that was the low end of things. That was his notice period. It was probably the very least you could pay him.
But count today as a small victory for Andrew Coster because he's cleared his reputation even if he's lost his job.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show.
5 comments:
Cleared his reputation, really? And who would believe that AC did what he did because he is that nice, gullible, tender guy who trusts everyone?
if or had the allegations of the miffed woman proved to be grossly exaggerated, what would be Coster.s positon?
I think Mr Coster was a bit duped by unfortunately being a nice guy. However, being responsible for important things and leading people, you can’t always be the nice guy Kiwi that socialist people like - one who thinks the best of people and gives them another chance, believes them at their word (as we all try and do), etc. But then suffers because that word wasn’t true, the one they trusted turns out to be recidivist perpetrators. And we still have parts of society wanting equity to those whose behaviour is to continue to perpetuate, while Mr Coster, like the taxpayer, is innocent but has had to pay the price.
You missed the real story, Heather, because you just write flippant comments with no investigation of what really went on behind them. The question is how Coster ever got the job of CEO of Willis' Social Investment Agency for which he was abjectly unqualified. Social investment requires knowledge of actuarial calculations and technical cost benefit analysis of which he had zero background. All my econ colleagues considered it a crazy joke of an appointment. I wrote so in my Blog at the time before closing it because "the NZ establishment" threatened me.
My understanding is that the Coster appointment to Social Investment Agency CEO was a Wellington stitch-up. Willis wanted him. Now she looks like a fool. All her appointments have turned into disasters, Quigley at the RBNZ included. Her judgement is appalling. But why did Roche green light Coster's application for that CEO position, when State Services is meant to be independent of political pressure? Its Roche, Willis and Treasury Secretary Renee who should be resigning for turning Wellington, and NZ, into an inbred zoo of a chumocracy.
Im not sure a reading of the IPCA supports your reading of the situation at all HDPA. Clearly Coster ran some interference in the new Commissioner process for Jevon. And the reasons why are very opaque. I dont buy the Coster was unaware or misunderstood the situation. He willful didnt investigate properly. He presided over a complaint investigation that was a sham and stinks of appearing to be a white wash.
Coster bailed on Police at an interesting time into a cushy job that wasnt really in his wheelhouse.
It all stinks of a stitch up and Wellingtons cosy circle of senior bureaucrats and pollies looking after each other
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