Politics

NSW

Police

Opinion

Alexandra Smith State Political Editor September 24, 2025 — 7.30pm

The appointment of Mal Lanyon as the next NSW police commissioner – despite his abusive alcohol-fuelled episode under the world’s largest concrete ram, and hosting New Year’s Eve for mates on an operational police boat – was not a surprise in the end.

The bigger surprise was how Premier Chris Minns handled it.

Minns made it clear that Lanyon, a 38-year veteran of the NSW Police Force, was his pick for arguably the most senior, and certainly most political, job in the public service. Premiers always have the ultimate say on who gets the job, so Minns is no outlier in the handpicking of Lanyon.

But no commissioner in recent history has arrived in the top job with the same amount of ba

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