The Government’s retail crime advisory group has been scrapped early after resignations exposed a deeply flawed and dysfunctional set-up from the start.

“The Government’s Ministerial Advisory Group on retail crime was always more about lining the pockets of Sunny Kaushal than offering real solutions to reduce crime,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said.

“The group was a costly exercise in recycling the same bad ideas, like citizens’ arrest, instead of listening to retailers, victims, and Police on the ground.

“Sunny Kaushal had no business leading this group and it is a failure of this Government for appointing him in the first place. His dysfunctional leadership drove out more than half of its members, all while he received lofty renumeration and spent lavishly on office space and events with taxpayer money.

“It just shows this Government is making all the wrong choices. They promised 500 extra police, but not only have they failed to deliver, the latest numbers show they’re now even further away from that target.

“This Government is failing on the basics,” Ginny Andersen said.