‘Doesn’t feel right’: Nixon questions ousting of police chief

Christine Nixon, the last chief commissioner of Victoria Police to serve two terms in the job, says the Allan government’s decision to oust Shane Patton because of a no-confidence vote by union members sets a bad precedent.

Nixon’s concerns follow revelations that neither Premier Jacinta Allan nor Police Minister Anthony Carbines rang Patton directly to inform him that he would not be offered a new contract when his current, five-year-term expires in June.

Premier Jacinta Allan and Police Minister Anthony Carbines said they could not ignore the no-confidence vote against former police chief Shane Patton by rank-and-file members.Credit: Joe Armao

Instead, it was left to a senior bureaucrat, Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Jeremi Moule, to deliver the news to Patton at 5pm last Friday.

That phone call, which was confirmed by a source with knowledge of the discussion but who was not authorised to speak publicly, plunged the Victorian government and police command into a crisis that culminated on Sunday with Patton’s decision to quit.

Allan and Carbines, under pressure to explain why they moved against Patton less than two weeks after the police minister had publicly declared he had the full support of government, insisted Friday’s no-confidence vote by Police Association of Victoria members left them no choice.

The premier described the vote as unprecedented. “It had to be addressed,” she said. “It needed to be addressed.”

Carbines said the vote was overwhelming and significant. “It is critical and important that the government does not ignore that vote,” he said.

Christine Nixon was the last Victoria Police chief to serve two full terms.Credit: Justin McManus

Nixon, who was also the subject of a no-confidence vote by association members during wage negotiations early in her tenure as chief commissioner, said such ballots were a tactic commonly used by the union to pressure governments.

“If that was relied on to depart a police commissioner, it doesn’t feel right and doesn’t set a good foundation for the future,” Nixon told this masthead.

Greg Davies, a former Police Association secretary who during his time in office was fiercely critical of Nixon and her successor, Simon Overland, described the government’s treatment of Patton as “small-minded and nasty”.

Shane Patton, pictured in 2022, quit his job as chief commissioner on Sunday night.Credit: Paul Jeffers

“Never in these situations is there a need for them to be carried out in such an unedifying and public manner,” he said.

As recently as February 5, the government publicly indicated that Patton, the state’s chief commissioner of police since June 2020, was likely to be appointed to another five-year term.

Carbines, responding to a report published that morning by the Herald Sun that the police chief and government were close to finalising a new contract, described Patton as a strong leader and “among the best across the country”.

“He has the government’s confidence, he has my confidence, and he has the confidence of police members,” Carbines said.

The Police Association on Monday confirmed these comments were the catalyst for the no-confidence vote that ended Patton’s career.

The motion put to members began by quoting Carbines’ February 5 comments and declared: “This government does not speak for our members.” It went on to list discontent about police morale, retention rates, understaffed police stations, rising crime and lack of support from senior command.

The subsequent ballot was conducted over three days. The results, published by the association at 4.35pm on Friday, found that 87 per cent of rank-and-file police had no confidence in Patton’s leadership.

Patton got the call from Moule about 5pm, just after he finished telling ABC Radio’s Ali Moore on-air that he remained committed to the job. He was due to conduct another radio interview with 3AW’s Jacqui Felgate but never made it to the microphone.

About 5.10pm on Friday, Felgate announced: “I have been told he has now pulled out of this interview and is now tied up and unable to chat.”

On Friday night, an unsourced story reporting Patton’s demise was published by the Herald Sun. Patton spent the weekend on the Gold Coast with his wife contemplating whether to serve out the remaining four months of his term.

He issued a statement on Sunday night, just before 10pm, announcing “with a heavy heart” his immediate resignation to allow fresh leadership in Victoria Police.

When questioned on Monday about whether they’d had any direct contact with Patton after the no-confidence vote, Allan and Carbines refused to answer.

“Out of respect to Mr Patton, out of respect to the office of chief commissioner, I am not going to go into the detail of those conversations,” the premier said.

When pressed, Allan and Carbines did not deny it was Moule who effectively gave Patton his marching orders. The premier said discussions with Patton were conducted by “senior government officials”.

Opposition Leader Brad Battin said the premier and police minister should be ashamed of their treatment of a career cop who’d given Victoria Police more than 45 years of service.

“It actually makes me angry. This man has dedicated his life to this. Whether we agree with what’s happened or not, you have to give him the respect to call him,” Battin said.

When asked why her government had treated Patton so shabbily, Allan said she “absolutely rejected” this characterisation.

Davies said it was not unprecedented for Police Association members to either vote for or publicly express no-confidence in a police chief. During his time running the association, he commissioned an online poll asking members whether they had lost confidence in then chief Overland.

“Overwhelmingly, they had,” Davies said. “It was effectively the same thing – a vote of no confidence.”

The no-confidence campaign against Nixon in the late 2000s was run by then union boss Paul Mullett, who led angry police officers in a march across the city.

Rank-and-file members also passed a no-confidence motion in Mick Miller, widely regarded as the state’s best chief commissioner in living memory. Despite the vote, Miller served out the remainder of his term and was subsequently granted life membership by the police union.

The vote of no-confidence against Patton followed a protracted – and at times bitter – enterprise agreement negotiations between the Police Association and state government that still requires approval by rank-and-file police to be finalised.

The government has appointed Emergency Management Victoria commissioner Rick Nugent, an experienced police commander who served as a deputy to Patton, as acting chief commissioner. State Emergency Service operations chief Tim Wiebusch will become acting commissioner for Emergency Management Victoria.

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