Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says ‘abject failure at top’ over Jevon McSkimming scandal

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says there was an “abject failure of leadership at the top” after the former Police Commissioner defended his communication between the Beehive and police headquarters over the Jevon McSkimming affair.

Luxon has this morning navigated fresh claims the Police Minister knew about the Jevon McSkimming scandal before it became public.

Luxon spoke with Newstalk ZB’s Heather du Plessis-Allan in the studio this morning.

In the latest development surrounding disgraced former assistant Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming, former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster – who resigned last week as head of the Social Investment Agency – claimed Police Minister Mark Mitchell and Labour leader Chris Hipkins knew about the extent of the allegations weeks earlier than they previously claimed.

This morning, Luxon said the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) came through with clear findings and Coster had “done the right thing” in resigning from his government position last week.

Luxon said it was an “abject failure of leadership at the top, and the IPCA was pretty crystal-clear around that”.

“That was pretty confronting, pretty shocking, appalling, I think, for the Government to receive, but also for the public to hear about as well.”

Luxon would not say whether Coster would have a future in public service, but he did confirm Coster had not been lined up for any roles.

This morning, Police Minister Mark Mitchell also hit back at claims he knew about the complaints against McSkimming earlier than he has publicly admitted, blasting them as “absolute, utter nonsense”.

Mitchell said his earlier communications with the Public Service Commission (PSC) on October 14 had concerned a probity check on the appointment of a temporary commissioner.

He said he was informed the IPCA was assessing some information, but he didn’t know the nature of the complaint or any surrounding details until the PSC prompted the commissioner to brief him.

Yesterday, Coster publicly denied knowledge of an email protocol that Mitchell said meant allegations about McSkimming weren’t raised with him.

The Herald revealed last month that Mitchell’s parliamentary email account had received 36 emails since December 2023 making allegations against McSkimming.

At the time, Mitchell told the Herald the “then-Police Commissioner directed” police staff based in the Beehive office to “refer emails relating to McSkimming directly to his office and not share or discuss them with anyone else in the office”.

Coster told TVNZ’s Q+A programme the first time he had heard that police staff had been told to redirect emails about McSkimming was the day after the release of the IPCA report into the handling of complaints about McSkimming.

He said he doesn’t believe it stacks up that a protocol led police staff stationed in Mitchell’s Beehive office to intercept emails making allegations against McSkimming and to prevent the minister or his political staff from seeing them.

Mitchell has responded by saying Coster’s claim is “unfathomable” and that the protocol came from Coster’s office, making it his responsibility.