Behind the ousting of Victoria’s police chief

Speaking at the doors of parliament 12 days ago, Carbines described Patton as a strong leader and “among the best” police executives in the nation.

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

That morning, the Herald Sun had reported the government was close to finalising a new five-year contract for Patton which would extend his tenure to 2030.

The vote of no confidence in Patton by police last Friday – about 87 per cent of association members supported the motion – scuttled those negotiations and convinced Allan that Patton had to go.

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Shortly after Friday’s vote, the police association issued a statement saying the decision “followed the government’s expression of members’ confidence in the chief commissioner on their behalf on 5 February. Our members and our organisation can speak for themselves.”

Allan on Monday said the overwhelming vote of no confidence in Patton by rank and file police left the government no choice but to act.

“It was an outcome that simply couldn’t be ignored and secondly, it sent a very clear message that police members were looking for a fresh start,” she said.

“It had to be addressed. It needed to be addressed.″⁣

Allan and Carbines were repeatedly asked whether either of them had spoken to Patton since the no-confidence vote. Both refused to answer.

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Allan said she spoke to Patton last week and there were a “range of discussions between senior government officials” over the weekend. “Out of respect to Mr Patton and the office of chief commissioner, I am not going to canvass those discussions,” she said.

Carbines said it would be “inappropriate” for him to publicly discuss any conversations he’d had with Patton.

Neither the premier nor the police minister disputed that Moule delivered the news to Patton on Friday.

The no-confidence ballot closed at 4pm Friday and the Police Association announced the result at 4.35pm.

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Within 30 minutes of the vote result, Moule was on the phone to Patton. Within hours, the news of Patton’s demise had been leaked to the Herald Sun, and at 10pm on Friday, it broke the news that Patton had been ousted.

Patton spent the weekend away with his family to consider whether he should serve out the remaining four months of his term. Across the two days, he had no contact with either Allan or Carbines.

On Sunday night, he issued a statement saying that “with a heavy heart”, he would step down immediately from his post.

“Victoria Police is an organisation that I have committed my life to and one that I have the utmost pride in, having served the community in it for over 45 years,” he said.

“It is with a heavy heart that I have made this decision, however I think it is the right one to allow fresh leadership in the role.”

The government has announced that Victorian Emergency Services Commissioners Rick Nugent will be acting chief commissioner of Victoria Police. A long-serving police executive, Nugent is considered the front-runner to become the state’s permanent next top cop.

Patton is the latest in a string of senior government appointments to leave their jobs. Earlier this month, the government announced that Department of Health secretary Euan Wallace and Tim Ada, the secretary of the Department of Jobs, Skills Industry and Regions, were leaving their posts.

Wallace, like Patton, played a critical role in Victoria’s COVID response, in his case helping lead the public health response after leaks from two quarantine hotels seeded the second wave epidemic and plunged the state back into lockdown.

Ada, a former deputy secretary in the Department of Premier and Cabinet, was considered one of the state’s most capable bureaucrats.

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