On 20 February - ten days before the police took decisive action to remove the occupation on Parliament grounds and the surrounding precinct - TVNZ's Q+A host, Jack Tame, interviewed Police Commissioner Andrew Coster.
A masterly summary. I have watched Coster's tactics with great interest. When you compare his approach to the approaches adopted overseas he definitely showed the most understanding of the situation he found himself faced with. I was particularly impressed that not only did he read the mood of the protestors correctly, he also read the mood of the country at large as well. He was completely correct in his original comment that the level of force he would have had to use at the start "...would have been unacceptable to most New Zealanders".
When he did finally send in the troops he remained very restrained and yet still managed to achieve his objectives. Again, I believe that he read the mood of the country correctly. By that time the protestors had proved themselves to be a rabble with no unified position and no clear objectives. They had become their own worst enemies! Everybody was fed up with them. His timing was impeccable.
He has not only been vindicated (as Jack Tame suggested on last Sunday's Q+A), but his reputation has leapt to stratospheric levels.
At thew end of the day, no one was seriously injured or killed. There were no scenes of mass-batonings.
We can imagine what might have been the consequences had this taken place in Moscow, Washington, or Beijing. In fact, we know how Beijing deals with mass protests.
Even some of the organisors had de-camped, fed up with the pointlessness of the occupation; needless harassment of the public; and some very unsavoury fellow travellers.
Sadly, future protests will be impacted by recent events and trust between organisors and police will have been damaged.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Someone with intelligence and experience.
We are well served by Commissioner Coster. I shudder to think how a more reactionary, hard-line Commissioner might have acted.
Job done and no one died. Win/win?
A masterly summary. I have watched Coster's tactics with great interest. When you compare his approach to the approaches adopted overseas he definitely showed the most understanding of the situation he found himself faced with. I was particularly impressed that not only did he read the mood of the protestors correctly, he also read the mood of the country at large as well. He was completely correct in his original comment that the level of force he would have had to use at the start "...would have been unacceptable to most New Zealanders".
When he did finally send in the troops he remained very restrained and yet still managed to achieve his objectives. Again, I believe that he read the mood of the country correctly. By that time the protestors had proved themselves to be a rabble with no unified position and no clear objectives. They had become their own worst enemies! Everybody was fed up with them. His timing was impeccable.
--
-Alan
Indeed, Alan.
He has not only been vindicated (as Jack Tame suggested on last Sunday's Q+A), but his reputation has leapt to stratospheric levels.
At thew end of the day, no one was seriously injured or killed. There were no scenes of mass-batonings.
We can imagine what might have been the consequences had this taken place in Moscow, Washington, or Beijing. In fact, we know how Beijing deals with mass protests.
Even some of the organisors had de-camped, fed up with the pointlessness of the occupation; needless harassment of the public; and some very unsavoury fellow travellers.
Sadly, future protests will be impacted by recent events and trust between organisors and police will have been damaged.