Victoria’s new chief police commissioner was just 17 when he donned his first uniform, and he still looked like he was in high school, he told a hall of recruits in Melbourne’s south-east on Friday.
That proved a problem at first for “conjuring authority on the streets” of New Zealand, but he would serve for more than 40 years, including eventually as the country’s police commissioner.
On Friday, Mike Bush donned a new uniform as head of Victoria Police – drawn out of retirement and across the ditch by the Allan government to lead a force in turmoil after the departure of two chief commissioners and a deputy during a crime crisis.
While an eager press pack waited outside for Bush and Premier Jacinta Allan on his first day, the prickliest questions came from the police recruits. One asked whether police would receive upgraded technology. “Heck yes!” was the answer.