I don’t have any official figures to back this up, but I reckon a favourite pastime in New Zealand – if not the favourite pastime – is making stupid demands for people in authority to resign from their jobs if we don’t like what they’re doing.  
If it was an Olympic sport, we’d be world champions us New Zealanders. 
And today, it’s the poor old Police Commissioner who’s in the firing line – for no good reason other than people wanting a scapegoat to blame for the self-righteous, self-interested and self-entitled Convoy 2022 crew still being camped outside Parliament after two weeks.  
Or the “Bandwagon 2022” crew, as I’m going to be calling them from here on. 
So, there’s been the usual calls over the weekend from people saying Commissioner Andrew Coster needs to hand in his resignation over the way he’s handled this and for allowing it to become the fiasco it has become. And, in my view, these calls for him to resign are just nonsense. 
Now I am in no doubt that the Wellington protest and the one in Cranmer Square here in Christchurch should both have been shut down days ago. In both cases, people are clearly breaking the rules. 
You may have seen Andrew Coster interviewed on the TV at the weekend on the Q&A show. 
He talked about having the confidence of Police Minister Poto Williams, and said it was a matter for other people to determine whether he should keep his job or not. 
He said he was not currently thinking of standing down if it came to the point where it was obvious that the public did not have confidence in him. 
And he talked at length about the long-term consequences of how this appalling situation might eventually be resolved. 
Coster clearly believes that if the Police get heavy-handed, and start clearing out the Parliament grounds using force, there will be a long-term loss of trust in the Police. 
I don’t necessarily agree with that. Or should I say, I’m not as concerned about that as he is. 
Because I think the Police effectively turning a blind eye to what’s going on is a betrayal of the vast majority of us who have and who continue to respect some pretty harsh COVID restrictions. 
As you’ll know, there are people having funerals for loved ones and doing the right thing and only allowing 100 people to turn up because of the COVID rules. 
There are a gazillion different events and sports competitions being cancelled because of the restrictions. I’m hating all of these cancellations. I hate the idea of people having to limit numbers at funerals and other big life events. 
But what can you do other than just suck it up? That’s what the vast majority of us are doing. 
And then we see these clowns protesting and occupying public spaces and getting away with it. I am so over these people.  
So, of course, if you’re like me and you’re over these self-entitled, self-interested idiots, of course, you’re going to feel that the cops are doing a lousy job. And in some respects, they are. I’d love them to go in and shut all of these things down. 
But don’t blame the Police Commissioner. Don’t make stupid calls for him to resign.  
Because if you do that, you’ll make him more of a victim of the system he operates in than he is now.  
If you saw the TV interview at the weekend, you will have heard him say that the Police have very limited powers. 
For example, they can’t stop people from turning up at Parliament. They can’t stop them from taking tents through the gates and setting up shop there. They can’t stop stuff happening just because it might go pear-shaped down the track. 
And that’s the problem. Not the Police Commissioner. 
And these calls for him to go, in my view, are ridiculous.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.