Labour leader and former Police Minister Chris Hipkins is firmly rejecting claims that ex–police commissioner Andrew Coster briefed him about Jevon McSkimming’s affair before McSkimming was promoted to deputy police commissioner.
Coster told TVNZ’s Q+A on Sunday that he informed Hipkins in July 2022, describing the conversation as informal — “a casual discussion” in the back of a car while they were travelling together. Coster said he told Hipkins that McSkimming had admitted to an affair with a younger woman and that “email allegations were now flying.”
But Hipkins says he’s certain that briefing “never happened.”
Speaking on Breakfast, he said he spent the weekend reflecting on whether he may have forgotten an informal conversation — but is convinced he did not.
“I am adamant that conversation never happened,” Hipkins said. “My press secretary was with me for the entire trip Coster referred to, and she has no recollection of it either.”
Hipkins added that this was not the sort of information he would have simply overlooked.
“Had I been told, I would have asked a lot more questions — and Jevon McSkimming would not have been promoted.”
He said he supports the idea of an independent inquiry but noted that it is ultimately up to the current Government.
“There is clearly a need to look at what has happened here. Police culture, the handling of Ms Z — the public deserves confidence in the decisions being made.”
Mitchell Also Rejects Coster’s Timeline
Current Police Minister Mark Mitchell has also pushed back against Coster’s claims.
Coster suggested Mitchell had been made awa
re of aspects of the McSkimming case earlier than he publicly stated. But Mitchell told Breakfast the suggestion was “not correct” and “utter nonsense,” saying he did not know about the allegations before November 6, 2024.
He added that if Coster had raised concerns with him earlier, he would have immediately asked what support had been provided to the woman involved, known as Ms Z.
“If he had brought me any of the issues around Ms Z and Mr McSkimming, I would have said exactly what I said on November 6: what support is in place? I’m a father of daughters, and part of my job is protecting people from the power of the state.”
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