Bush conceded he should have been more patient and put more effort into finding a commercial flight, and listed a busy schedule and a desire to maximise time with colleagues in Tasmania as some of the factors behind the decision to use the police aircraft.
He said he realised he had made a mistake when “he got on that machine” to fly to Hobart.
One of Victoria Police’s air-wing helicopters being unveiled in 2020.Credit: Eddie Jim
“I was considering, ‘Was this the best option?’ at the time. Obviously, it was too late to change that decision,” he said.
Bush, who used the air-wing once before to travel to Porepunkah in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of two police officers, said he had originally planned to travel on the force’s fixed-wing aircraft, but strong wind conditions made it unviable.
The media storm comes at a challenging time for Victoria Police. The force is grappling with a growing crime problem, an internal reshuffle, growing unrest among rank-and-file officers, and a financial crunch after the government cut its funding in the latest budget.
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Bush pushed back on suggestions his officers would be disparaged by his flight and said he was not disappointed that it was leaked to the media.
“That’s always going to happen,” he told ABC. “So, I’m all up for transparency.”
He said he would be flying back to Melbourne on a commercial flight that had been booked for weeks.
Police Minister Anthony Carbines did not appear publicly to speak on the matter, with ministers Harriet Shing and Lily D’Ambrosio responding to questions on behalf of the government during separate media appearances.
Shing said the commissioner was doing an exceptional job.“We back him. We respect him. We respect the work that he does and the work that every single police officer does every single day,” she said.
On Bush’s apology, Shing said it was a hallmark of good leadership to “not only commit to continuous improvement, but to identify that things haven’t worked”.
State Opposition Leader Brad Battin, a former police officer, said it was a bad look when Victorians were facing record levels of crime and “police are being told there’s no money to cut the lawns or replace the lightbulbs at the station”.
“This is not how taxpayers expect police to spend their money,” he said in a statement. “What would you say to the victims if that helicopter was unavailable when it was needed most to fight crime?”
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