Their timing on releasing all this is extremely embarrassing to watch.
Should feel sorry for him, but he is a bullying arsehole, so not possible.
Will be very interesting to see how our caring, sharing govt will vote in his vote of no confidence in the new year, and whether they vote to support his bullying.
The figure, revealed to the National Party in a written parliamentary question, includes a $158,000 settlement payment from the Speaker to the staffer, $171,000 to cover legal fees, and $4641.70 for Crown Law advice to the former deputy speaker.
Mallard on Tuesday afternoon publicly apologised to the staffer, saying, in a statement, he had been wrong to describe the allegation as rape, and apologised for the “distress and humiliation” this caused the staffer.
The statement was slipped under the Stuff press gallery office door on Tuesday afternoon, hours after the Royal Commission on the March 15 terror attack released its report. It did not detail the cost of the settlement.
Mallard would not comment on the matter in the House or to media and, when ask to comment for this story, responded: “No.”
National leader Judith Collins, in a statement releasing Mallard’s answers to written questions, said her party had decided Mallard was no longer fit to be Speaker of the House.
“This is unacceptable behaviour from the Speaker …. It is the Speaker’s job to set the standard of behaviour for everyone at Parliament, but he has been reckless with his words, resulting in taxpayers footing a bill of more than $330,000 to clean up this mess.
“There has been no formal apology to Parliament for this, despite the National Party encouraging the Speaker to do so on the final sitting day this year.
“Because Mallard has not lived up to the high standards of behaviour that he has set for Parliament, we believe he is no longer fit to hold the role of Speaker.”
Only of real interest to political opportunists looking for a hit out.
More important is the quote from a sufferer in Alison Mau's take.
She praised Mallard for his "take no prisoners" attitude and said it was a relief to hear him call serious sexual assault, rape.
“I think Trevor’s helped us turn a bit of a corner here,” she said.
“When a woman makes an accusation of sexual offending she is confused and scared that she somehow imagined it. She feels responsible for the trouble she is causing. To have the man fronting the response (be) so unequivocal about where the blame lies, relieves her of all that confusion and blame, and fear.”
A man was sexually harassing young women. No, it was not technically rape, but to the unfortunate victims it had the same effect – that is, fear and a feeling of degradation. Mallard voiced those feelings with his comment that ran along the lines that… it looked to him to be rape.
Maybe unwise given his parliamentary status but not a sacking offence.
The perpetrator used the technical breach to obtain $160,000 compensation which is yet another example of the morality – or the lack of it – of the NZ justice system and indeed the perpetrator himself.
The perpetrator who was sued and apologised, changed the rules apparently, and paid out 1/3 of a million dollars of tax payer money to make it go away was Mallard.
[please provide a credible citation to support that allegation. Linking to hearsay and unsubstantiated opinion doesn’t count – weka]
dropping you in premod until I get a response. You ignored my first request, now it's from a moderator. It's not ok to keep repeating the same lines without backing up your claim.
You gave me 4 minutes and didn't actually say which bit you wanted a response to.
[You’re in premod because I was about to log off for the night and you were already spamming the thread with the same lines. Nothing to do with other timing. It’s pretty clear from my mod note and comments what I want backing up. We’re now in wasting moderator time phase and I’m inclined to just ban you until after the holidays simply because I don’t want to spend my time on this.
– weka]
"Apparently, according to political editor Barry Soper"
[you don’t get to decide where the boundaries are. Adding the word apparently doesn’t change things. Either provide evidence for the assertion or withdraw it or get a ban – weka]
In my opinion Mallard should resign. He's cost the tax payer thousands slandering someone which has been proven to be incorrect. It's not only Judith that wants him gone but also Seymour as well of course. I would be surprised if there were no Labour MP's that think he should go after this.
I have worked with him along with many others during 1992-1996 when Mallard was Whip. A more straight up person you could not meet. Called a spade a spade, what you see is what you got. Far preferable to anyone who is of a touchy feely bent, and many other and who cannot see or read the environment to note that touchy feely is actually not on in a workplace and especially where there is an imbalance of power.
I don't know the person, I could easily find out. He has damned himself by owning up to hugging, kissing and complimenting – all actions that sensible people don't do in a workplace.
I doubt, given that he has publicised ie minimised what he did, that anyone other than he himself may have caused people in the future to wonder about 'fit' in a workplace where women work.
Your view/opinion exhibits a degree of personal animus that makes me wonder.
I agree with Judith Collins, the Speaker “has been reckless with his words”, which is “unprofessional” according to David Seymour, and the Taxpayers’ Onion wants him to pay the money back, which is ironic coming from them 😀
No, I'm saying Collins should shut the fuck up. Running lines that Mallard should resign because of unacceptable behaviour when she supported all Key all those years is bullshit politicking.
Given the brand Ardern has created for the govt, they shouldn't have to be told by anyone the bloke should go/be moved to a different position.
[You see, it’s comments like this one that make me wonder whether or not you’re really a clever troll siding with the DP gang in and of National. In this case, you’re trying to politicise the issue to attack Ardern.
My tendency is to give people the benefit of doubt but my gut instinct is telling me that you’re a troll. I have looked into your history here on this site and you’re a recidivist offender who has received many bans and countless Moderation notes. You’re wasting precious Moderator time.
Lprent recently cut the Gordian Knot when he said this in a Moderation:
Ambiguity carries penalties around here. And as most ambiguity seems to be a tactic, it leaves it completely up to a moderators personal choice about how they want to treat it.
You can look it up yourself.
Well, the tea leaves show an awful lot of ambiguity when asking about your motives here.
Feel where I’m going with this?
You’re in Pre-Moderation watch by weka but I think it’s fair to let you know that I’m actively monitoring you now to boot you off the site for a while. So, this is your final warning, as far as I’m concerned – Incognito]
I have seen it. But since this Pre-mod thing I can't post (well at least after they said it, so the booting off threat is a bit moot.
Edit: Apparently now I can, you just have to approve them.
[Warnings, warnings, warnings, so many warnings. Warnings are not threats. They are invitations to you to lift your game here. Something tells me that this is not going to happen.
This particular warning was not an invitation to you to rebut or litigate your moderation. It was a request to take heed.
Generally, Moderators are happy to answer any questions commenters might have about (their) moderation but in your case we’ve passed it and it would simply be wasting more of our time; ignorance is no excuse and you cannot feign it anyway.
You’d be better advised to get yourself out of Pre-Moderation by providing an adequate response to weka’s moderation notes. Of course, if you’re a troll, and I’m now more convinced of this, then it will be another token effort until next time with lots of “I’m sorry” and “please, forgive me”. If you’re genuine, then we will see a genuine and lasting attempt to lift your game. Others here make an effort to improve so why not you??
Weka's moderation post didn't say which part of my post I had to clarify.
I get modding is annoying. I do it on other forums, but this
My post
The perpetrator who was sued and apologised, changed the rules apparently, and paid out 1/3 of a million dollars of tax payer money to make it go away was Mallard.
"The perpetrator who was sued and apologised,"
Mallard in the case in question we were discussing Unless you deny this happening when it was reported in multiple media.
"changed the rules apparently,"
My fault. Should have put a disclaimer it was an accusation by Soper.
"and paid out 1/3 of a million dollars of tax payer money "
This is true and reported in multiple links provided by me.
"to make it go away was Mallard."
Admittedly my opinion, apologies, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist given the timing.
[all you had to do was provide a credible link to support your assertion that wasn’t from a partisan hack like Soper. I would have accepted something from a right winger, had it been credible. But seeing as how you can’t even be bothered to do that, I’m banning you until after the holidays so I don’t have to keep spending my time on this. Can’t emphasise how much wasting mod time is a factor in moderation, learn from this when you come back – weka]
[checked the Mod post to see previous moderations and there’s too many to look at. Three month ban mostly for wasting my time, but also, if you want to comment here you *have to provide evidence for assertions of fact especially about public figures. Noting in the back end because if this happens again you can expect a much longer ban. See also https://thestandard.org.nz/a-bit-about-how-the-standard-works/ – weka]
Re the 4 minute, no warning complaint. My first mod note was at 8.06pm on 11/12/20. The ban was given after 10pm and you had posted again by then. I don't know if you didn't see my notes, or ignored them (again, the issue here is about my time spent and the onus is on the commenter to do the legwork), but my suggestion is to use the Reply list so you can see who has replied to you and if it is a moderator, go read what they say before doing anything else.
In August, the Speaker issued new 'directions' (rules for MPs funding and spending), which expanded the range of legal costs MPs could have funded from the taxpayer purse, to include "damages and payments to settle a legal action."
In the past, that funding was only available for legal costs to defend the legal proceedings taken against them in their capacity as MPs – and not for settlements.
To get approval for it, it has to be signed off by the Speaker and chief executive of Parliamentary Service.
They must "consider the extent to which the member's involvement in the proceedings is due to the member acting in their capacity as a member of Parliament."
The money usually comes out of a political party's overall pool of funding.
There are separate provisions for Cabinet Ministers' legal costs.
In cases where Cabinet minister are sued for something such as defamation, the Cabinet Manual said Cabinet will decide whether their legal costs are covered – and whether to pay for any costs or damages awards if the Minister loses in court.
[thanks Chris. Had you provided that the first or even second time you were asked for it, two things would have happened. One is you wouldn’t now be on a 3 month ban. The other is that we could have had an actual political debate about that aspect of the situation, because instead of partisan hack reckons, we had some actual facts to work with. That’s what we are here for. – weka]
Yes, agree but then she/National Party not given to introspection or knowledge of the glasshouses and stones analogy.
And arguably the involvement of Paula Bennett in this whole saga when she treated the fact that women had come to her as a political point scoring exercise rather than alerting the PM in a one on one basis was another low point.
Jacinda did say in politics we should be kinder to each other & that she would have an open & transparent government. She has failed on both counts & when questioned about Mallard’s behaviour doesn’t act like a decent prime minister. If Helen Clark was in charge Mallard would be off to the chopping block.
It's been confirmed that the almost $334,000 in legal costs have been paid out by the taxpayer. Why? Well Mallard had the rules changed after he made his outrageous comment to protect him from having the pay the bill for something he clearly knew would go against him.
there's a lot of unsubstantiated assertion in that opinion piece, and its from Soper, do you have a better reference?
Mallard made a mistake in an RNZ interview, conflating legal definitions of sexual assault with rape. He didn't know who the staffer was and from what I can tell believed that the person wasn't known generally. I don't know if he was mistaken on that.
No offence, and forgive me if I am wrong, but you seem to be coming across as trying to fob off what Mallard did as just a mistake, lets just forget about it.
Wellington is a small place, with loads of govt departments who all know each other and gossip.
It's not 'just' a mistake, it's an important mistake, but not one that I think he should lose the Speaker role for. I haven't seen a convincing argument for why he should eg he knew who the man was and knew his words would seriously impact on the man.
Also, if you ask me who I think is more likely to be accurate and truthful over the nature of the assaults, Mallard or Soper, I'd pick Mallard. But I don't know the details of the case, so I am guessing.
The man claimed the three allegations were related to hugging a colleague, complimenting another colleague on her hair, and kissing another on her cheek as he said goodbye to her after she visited him and his wife for tea.
"We're talking about serious sexual assault. Well that, for me, that's rape," he said. "That is the impression I get from the report."
I know the right wing have nightmares about "woke liberal" complaints, but there's more than just a semantic difference between those two descriptions of behaviour.
the extent to which those on the right are willing to use rape culture and minimising of it for political gain (including Collins today) is a big factor in why I'm more inclined to believe Mallard. Although it could just be that I don't trust Soper as far as I could throw him.
Agree with you Weka. I would trust Mallard over Soper any day and Mallard over Collins any day.
National Party is the last party to be acting shocked about this and calling anyone to account……bearing in mind the lack of ethical and moral framework that was so apparent last year.
There an important time delay between the statements. Mallard's was in reaction to the Debbie Francis report, a survey done of Parliamentary staff, ongoing cases of sexual shenanigans, Paula Bennett using the approach of several Labour staff members to her as a political point scoring exercise. There were allegations all round. At one stage it was thought that there were several of these men in staff positions.
I have not seen the statements from the person who got the payout before now. These were not around or public when all the above were going on. We did not know who it was.
So Mallard was not aware that the person had admitted to touching, kissing and complimenting ie his 'rape' response was not to this. It was to report after report seeming to be coming out about Labour staff having gone too far.
The point is in all of this is that the man has admitted to doing things that could be unwelcome, could cause women to wonder if they were safe etc with him, wonder if they are going to be able to keep working there. Power imbalance
It is a big stretch from unproven indecent assault to an allegation of rape.
It may not have been proven in a court of law but from memory several women came forward with complaints about the same person. That indicated he harassed and degraded young women.
My memory of the context around Mallard's words was not a formal allegation of rape, but rather he regarded it as something along the lines of rape. A fair enough conclusion given what else was being reported at the time.
This is the usual kind of pathetic political one-up-man-ship game we have come to expect from National and ACT.
And so we minimise the 'things' that this person has done…….by applying male chauv standards. Next thing we know he'll be saying 'she couldn't take a joke'.
a hug, when one may have neither wanted or expected and certainly not normal in a public service setting.
compliments – most thinking bosses or people in charge know this is an absolute minefield.
kissing on the cheek – see above when one may have neither wanted or expected and certainly not normal in a public service setting.
These do sound overly touchy feely and unwelcome attention from someone in power to an underling and fit the usual definitions of sexual harassment.
This appears to have been investigated by parliamentary services. They concluded the accusations were unsubstantiated so the only account we have of the nature of events is from the Soper interview.
There isn't really anything public backing up Mallards description of events, not even a claim by reporters that the accusations were more serious than described.
Personally, I hope he's not taking the reputational hit just to protect the complainant by keeping the details of a serious sexual assault from being trawled through civil court.
300k isn't all that's stopping Grant Robertson from signing the cheques for a bold nay revolutionary government agenda of social and economic reform. In the greater scheme of things, it's fuckall.
They concluded the accusations were unsubstantiated…
I remember no such claim from Parliamentary Services!
What I do remember is evidence they tried to sweep the complaints under the carpet which many of us have found to be normal practice from Public Service entities when faced with allegations of bullying, sexual harassment and other forms of intimidation.
a complainant who didn't want to be targeted by Soper and tories so did not want to take their complaint further, and Mallard is taking a hit for summarising the complaint accurately but prematurely in public;
the initial confidential findings getting a massive backtrack when employment and more serious options started being pursued
Mallard completely misread and conflated the allegations into something that nobody had described;
maybe some other possibility that hasn't occurred to me
If I were offered a million dollars if I could pick the correct scenario, I wouldn't be picking that Mallard thought an innocent but unwelcome hug was a serious sexual assault akin to rape.
In the past that is exactly what some Public Service entities did when an employee came forward and tried to lay complaints about a superior officer.
In my case, it was bullying and intimidation but I did also report a series of obscene phone calls I was receiving around the same time. Instead of giving me support, they effectively accused me of lying.
It happened a long time ago now but I have noted from cases which have landed in the media from time to time that in reality not a lot seems to have changed.
I don't see how calling an accusation of sexual harassment 'a rape' and being unable to pursue that with the police is helping victims of sexual harassment. So unless the accusation was of that nature I don't see any difference between parliamentary services sweeping this under the rug and alternatively sacking the staffer for inappropriate behaviour. Probably they think the punishment was fit and you think it was a thorough cover up.
You need to look at the Debbie Francis report. Read press from the time. There was also an SSC(?) or parliamentary services (?) investigations. There were around 40 complaints, from memory, about things there.
These were piling up and then the latest, whether a conflation of several complaints, or what, was that there had been at least instance of more serious issues.
it did not come out of nowhere
we had no idea who was involved then though some could find out joining dots
all the accounts were saying that a person/s were persistently crossing boundaries
'kissing', 'hugging', 'complimenting' were not what Mallard was directly referring to, he may be hot-headed but he is not silly enough to call that rape.
They were unwarranted and unwise approaches to young female staff by a person who should have known better.
It's the appropriation of empathetic sounds while obviously not understanding a word they say that pisses me off. They just seem to think it's some sort of ritual one does to score points.
I was not saying that nothing did not happen. When it comes to what Mallard said happened (allegation of rape) this did not happen and the government employee was defamed.
The women who were harassed were put into a position by Mallard which possibly made it differcult to make a complaint to the police. Where there is no police complaint the police usually do not do an investigation. Not every person wants to make a complaint either.
I don't think it was Mallard who put them in that position. It was more the actions of Paula Bennett and the politically motivated furore – aided an abetted by some in the media – that followed. They didn't want to go the police. They wanted their employers, Parliamentary Services to take action -perhaps move on the person who was causing them grief.
Mallard did not make an outright allegation. He served to make a comparison with rape as the effects of the harassment on the young victims were reasonably serious. Not a good suitable description granted and he has acknowledged as much.
It is different to an allegation of rape, and that is conveniently being ignored by Collins, Seymour, Soper and other journos who have jumped on the story.
I do expect any MP or the speaker of the house who is in charge of Parliamentary Services to know the difference between bullying, sexual harassment, gaslighting, indecent assault, sexual assault, sexual violation and rape. All of these offences cause harm. In some cases years go by until a person is psychologically well enough to make a complaint and has the resources for a lawyer. In some instances the perpetrator continues their horrid behaviour and the employer needs a reason for them to be removed or excuses are made by the employer for not removing the perpetrator.
The $158,000 made to him is for the payment of his legal bills and a $171,000 has been paid to Mallard's lawyers at Dentons Kensington Swan. A further $4641 went to Crown Law for advice to Parliament's then deputy Speaker Anne Tolley who Mallard delegated to have the rules changed to protect him.
Pretty sure Mallard ordering Tolley to "change the rules to protect me" would have raised some pretty big headlines, even if Tolley were inclined to go along with it. Seems more like Mallard stepped back from the issue due to the conflict of interest.
Barry Soper went berserk when Labour won the 2017 election. He could not hide his anger and malice and behaved like a spoiled brat for a year or more afterwards at every PM media stand-up. Ardern's patience with him was remarkable. I would have told him to shit off and never return – which is why I never contemplated a political career.
For one thing, NZ political commentators are breathless gossips who are completely wrong more often than they are correct.
The only message they communicate is their own. One or two of them have been treading the line between reporting and advocacy (ISTR allegations of friendship between them and the staffer?). So "if" you have any actual evidence that Mallard committed a corrupt act, take it to the cops.
You might not see Soper "making it all up". Neither do I. I'm quite prepared to believe that Mallard recused himself from making the decision due to a conflict of interest, and delegated Tolley to decide what the correct thing to be done was.
But I can definitely see Soper spinning a proper and responsible course of action into something corrupt, especially if Soper happened to be mates with the guy who got three definite complaints for inappropriate behaviour.
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An event organised by the Auckland PhilippinesSolidarity group Have a three-course lunch at Nanam Eatery with us! Help support the organic farming of our Lumad communities through the Mindanao Community School Agricultural Foundation. Each ticket is $50. Food will be served on shared plates. To purchase, please email phsolidarity@gmail.com or ...
"Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here." Prisons are places of unceasing emotional and physical violence, unrelieved despair and unforgivable human waste.IT WAS NATIONAL’S Bill English who accurately described New Zealand’s prisons as “fiscal and moral failures”. On the same subject, Labour’s Dr Martyn Findlay memorably suggested that no prison ...
This is a re-post from Inside Climate News by Ilana Cohen. Inside Climate News is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter here. Whether or not people accept the science on Covid-19 and climate change, both global crises will have lasting impacts on health and ...
. . American Burlesque As I write this (Wednesday evening, 6 January), the US Presidential election is all but resolved, confirming Joe Biden as the next President of the (Dis-)United State of America. Trump’s turbulent political career has lasted just four years – one of the few single-term US presidents ...
The session started off so well. Annalax – suitably chastised – spent a pleasant morning with his new girlfriend (he would say paramour, of course, but for our purposes, girlfriend is easier*). He told her about Waking World Drow, and their worship of Her Ladyship. And he started ...
In a recent column I wrote for local newspapers, I ventured to suggest that Donald Trump – in addition to being a liar and a cheat, and sexist and racist – was a fascist in the making and would probably try, if he were to lose the election, to defy ...
When I was preparing for my School C English exam I knew I needed some quotes to splash through my essays. But remembering lines was never my strong point, so I tended to look for the low-hanging fruit. We’d studied Shakespeare’s King Lear that year and perhaps the lowest hanging ...
When I went to bed last night, I was expecting today to be eventful. A lot of pouting in Congress as last-ditch Trumpers staged bad-faith "objections" to a democratic election, maybe some rioting on the streets of Washington DC from angry Trump supporters. But I wasn't expecting anything like an ...
Melted ice of the past answers question today? Kate Ashley and a large crew of coauthors wind back the clock to look at Antarctic sea ice behavior in times gone by, in Mid-Holocene Antarctic sea-ice increase driven by marine ice sheet retreat. For armchair scientists following the Antarctic sea ice situation, something jumps out in ...
Christina SzalinskiWhen Martha Field became pregnant in 2005, a singular fear weighed on her mind. Not long before, as a Cornell University graduate student researching how genes and nutrients interact to cause disease, she had seen images of unborn mouse pups smaller than her pinkie nail, some with ...
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidates for President and Vice President respectively for the US 2020 Election, may have dispensed with the erstwhile nemesis, Trump the candidate – but there are numerous critical openings through which much, much worse many out there may yet see fit to ...
I don’t know Taupō well. Even though I stop off there from time to time, I’m always on the way to somewhere else. Usually Taupō means making a hot water puddle in the gritty sand followed by a swim in the lake, noticing with bemusement and resignation the traffic, the ...
Frances Williams, King’s College LondonFor most people, infection with SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – leads to mild, short-term symptoms, acute respiratory illness, or possibly no symptoms at all. But some people have long-lasting symptoms after their infection – this has been dubbed “long COVID”. Scientists are ...
Last night, a British court ruled that Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the US. Unfortunately, its not because all he is "guilty" of is journalism, or because the offence the US wants to charge him with - espionage - is of an inherently political nature; instead the judge accepted ...
Is the Gender Identity Movement a movement for human liberation, or is it a regressive movement which undermines women’s liberation and promotes sexist stereotypes? Should biological males be allowed to play in women’s sport, use women-only spaces (public toilets, changing rooms, other facilities), be able to have access to everything ...
Ian Whittaker, Nottingham Trent University and Gareth Dorrian, University of BirminghamSpace exploration achieved several notable firsts in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, including commercial human spaceflight and returning samples of an asteroid to Earth. The coming year is shaping up to be just as interesting. Here are some of ...
Michael Head, University of SouthamptonThe UK has become the first country to authorise the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for public use, with roll-out to start in the first week of 2021. This vaccine is the second to be authorised in the UK – following the Pfizer vaccine. The British government ...
So, Boris Johnson has been footering about in hospitals again. We should be grateful, perhaps, that on this occasion the Clown-in-Chief is only (probably) getting in the way and causing distractions, rather than taking up a bed, vital equipment and resources and adding more strain and danger to exhausted staff.Look at ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... SkS in the News... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Many Scientists Now Say Global Warming Could Stop Relatively Quickly After Emissions Go to ZeroThat’s one of several recent ...
The situation in the UK is looking catastrophic.Cases: over *70,000* people who were tested in England on 29th December tested positive. This is *not* because there were more tests on that day. It *is* 4 days after Christmas though, around when people who caught Covid on Christmas Day might start ...
by Don Franks For five days over New Year weekend, sixteen prisoners in the archaic pre WW1 block of Waikeria Prison defied authorities by setting fires and occupying the building’s roof. They eventually agreed to surrender after intervention from Maori party co-leader Rawiri Waititi. A message from the protesting men had stated: ...
Lost Opportunity: The powerful political metaphor of the Maori Party leading the despised and marginalised from danger to safety, is one Labour could have pre-empted by taking the uprising at Waikeria Prison much more seriously. AS WORD OF Rawiri Waititi’s successful intervention in the Waikeria Prison stand-off spreads, the Maori ...
As we welcome in the new year, our focus is on continuing to keep New Zealanders safe and moving forward with our economic recovery. There’s a lot to get on with, but before we say a final goodbye to 2020, here’s a quick look back at some of the milestones ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has added her warm congratulations to the New Zealanders recognised for their contributions to their communities and the country in the New Year 2021 Honours List. “The past year has been one that few of us could have imagined. In spite of all the things that ...
Attorney-General and Minister for the Environment David Parker has congratulated two retired judges who have had their contributions to the country and their communities recognised in the New Year 2021 Honours list. The Hon Tony Randerson QC has been appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the New Year’s Honours List 2021 highlights again the outstanding contribution made by Pacific people across Aotearoa. “We are acknowledging the work of 13 Pacific leaders in the New Year’s Honours, representing a number of sectors including health, education, community, sports, the ...
The Government’s investment in digital literacy training for seniors has led to more than 250 people participating so far, helping them stay connected. “COVID-19 has meant older New Zealanders are showing more interest in learning how to use technology like Zoom and Skype so they can to keep in touch ...
Dairy prices increased by 3.9% across the board at the latest Fonterra global auction. The lift followed rises of 1.3% and 4.3% in the December auctions which took dairy prices to their highest level in 11 months, defying those analysts who believed Covid-19 had disrupted dairy markets. In the latest ...
America's Cup team American Magic has spoken publicly after their boat Patriot capsized when on its way to their first win of the Challenger Selection Series yesterday. Patriot dramatically capsized yesterday, becoming temporarily airborne before crashing back into the water and tipping. The boat, helmed by New Zealander Dean Barker, could not be ...
It’s a seemingly age old question: why do Auckland’s beaches become unswimmable after every single downpour? Stewart Sowman-Lund investigates.Ah, the beach. A staple of the New Zealand summer. Unless, of course, you’re based in Auckland and it’s raining. The start of 2021 has been a lot like every other New ...
We have opened a book, among members of the Point of Order team, on how long it will be before the PM offers to sort out the land dispute at Wellington’s Shelly Bay and (to win the double) how much the settlement will cost taxpayers. Just a few weeks ago ...
Breakfast TV news is back for 2021, and Tara Ward got up early to watch. “Thank god it’s almost Christmas,” John Campbell said during the opening minutes of Breakfast’s premiere episode of the year. “2021’s been rough so far. I’m buggered”. We’re all buggered, to be fair, but I’m worried that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Pearson, Professor of Journalism and Social Media, Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith University, Griffith University The blame for the recent assault on the US Capitol and President Donald Trump’s broader dismantling of democratic institutions and norms can be ...
Despite a popular and unifying leader of the governing party, divisions both in policy and culture will test the progressive movement, writes Peter McKenzie.‘I think we’re confused.” Marlon Drake is an organiser for the Living Wage Movement. His job takes him all over Wellington, trying to convince businesses to increase ...
Covid-19 Recovery Minister Chris Hipkins says vaccinations should be available to the public by the middle of the year, but other countries are prioritised. ...
It’s as true now as it ever has been: nowhere else offers an education experience like that of Dunedin. But rather than resting on their laurels, the University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic have plans to make the city an even more inspiring place for students.From high in the summit ...
Haggis, neeps and tatties and whisky may not be a traditional spread for a summer gathering in NZ, but trust Auckland city councillor and Kiwi-Scot Cathy Casey on this one. Gie it laldy! Rule one: Hold it on (or near) January 25Robert Burns was born on January 25, 1759. Since the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tuffley, Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics & CyberSecurity, Griffith University It could be argued artificial intelligence (AI) is already the indispensable tool of the 21st century. From helping doctors diagnose and treat patients to rapidly advancing new drug discoveries, it’s our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Professor, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University Through recent natural disasters, global upheavals and a pandemic, Australia’s political centre has largely held. Australians may have disagreed at times, but they have also kept faith with governmental norms, eschewing the false ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Seale, Associate professor, UNSW Health workers are at higher risk of COVID infection and illness. They can also act as extremely efficient transmitters of viruses to others in medical and aged care facilities. That’s why health workers have been prioritised to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jim Orchard, Adjunct Lecturer, Monash University Last week, somewhat overshadowed by the events in Washington, the Democrats took control of the US Senate. The Democrats now hold a small majority in both the House and the Senate until 2022, giving President-elect Joe ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mittul Vahanvati, Lecturer, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University Heatwaves, floods, bushfires: disaster season is upon us again. We can’t prevent hazards or climate change-related extreme weather events but we can prepare for them — not just as individuals ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mandie Shean, Lecturer, School of Education, Edith Cowan University Starting school is an important event for children and a positive experience can set the tone for the rest of their school experience. Some children are excited to attend school for the first ...
Some families in emergency housing are reporting their children are becoming emotionally distressed because of their living conditions. Demand for emergency accommodation has escalated this past year with the number of emergency housing grants increasing by half. Data showed nearly 10,000 people were given an Emergency Housing Special Needs Grant between ...
Summer reissue: Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden are back for a second season of On the Rag, and where better to start than with the mysterious, exhausting world of wellness?First published June 23, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is ...
With few Covid-19 infections and negiligible natural immunity, New Zealand faces being a victim of its own success when it is left till last to get the vaccines, argues Dr Parmjeet Parmar. ...
Steve Braunias reports on a literary cancelling. The Corrections department has refused to allow Jared Savage's best-selling book Gangland inside prison on the grounds that it "promotes violence and drug use". An inmate at Otago Corrections Facility in Dunedin was sent a copy of the book – but it was ...
New data from the CTU’s annual work life survey shows a snapshot of working people’s experiences and outlook heading out of 2020 and into the new year. Concerningly 42% of respondents cite workplace bullying as an issue in their workplace - a number ...
An international player, selector and self-confessed cricket stats nerd, Penny Kinsella has now played a hand in recording the rich history of the women's game in New Zealand. Penny Kinsella’s cricketing career was perched on the cusp of change for the White Ferns. “My first tour to Australia, we ...
The dramatic capsize of American Magic brought out the best in the America's Cup sailing fraternity. But, Suzanne McFadden asks, what does it mean to the crippled New York Yacht Club campaign and to the Prada Cup? It was a scene as unreal as it was calamitous. Right at the moment the ...
The current number of members of parliament is starting to get too low for the job we expect them to do, argues Alex Braae. As a general rule, with the possible exception of their families, nobody likes backbench MPs. But it’s nevertheless time we accepted that parliament should have more of ...
The experience in the Brazilian city of Manaus reveals how mistaken, and dangerous, the herd-immunity-by-infection theory really is. As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop ...
As New Zealand gears up to fight climate change, experts warn that we need to actually reduce emissions, not just plant trees to offset our greenhouse gases. ...
A nationwide poll has found majority support for the government to continue to closely monitor abortions in New Zealand and the reasons for it, despite the Ministry of Health recently suggesting that there is not a use for collecting much of this information. ...
The out-of-control growth in gangs, gun crime, and violent gang activity is exposing our communities to dangerous levels of violence that will inevitably end in tragedy, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “The recent incidents of people being shot and ...
Successive governments have paid lip service to our productivity challenge but have failed to deliver. It's time to establish a Productivity Council charged with prioritising efforts. ...
Understanding the connection between chronic fatigue syndrome and ‘long Covid’ might be helpful in treating symptoms that doctors will find all too easy to dismiss.When people began to report signs of “long Covid”, characterised by a lack of full recovery from the virus and debilitating fatigue, I recognised their stories. ...
Nadine Anne Hura, who never considered herself an artist, reflects on what art and making has taught her.I couldn’t clean or cook or wash the clothes, but I could sew. That’s a lie, I’m a terrible sewer, but I left work early to fossick around in the $1 bin of ...
Summer reissue: In the final episode of this season of Bad News, Alice is joined by Billy T award winner Kura Forrester to look at how well we’re honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 2020.First published September 3, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The ...
Lucy Revill’s The Residents is a blog about daily life in Wellington that has morphed into a stylish, low-key coffee-table book featuring interviews and photographic portraits of 38 Wellingtonians. In this extract, Revill profiles Eboni Waitere, owner and executive director of Huia Publishers. The Residents features names like Monique Fiso ...
Pacific Media Watch correspondent The pro-independence conflict in West Papua with a missionary plane reportedly being shot down at Intan Jaya has stirred contrasting responses from the TNI/POLRI state sources, church leaders and an independence leader. A shooting caused a plane to catch fire on 6 January 2021 in the ...
“Last year ACT warned that rewarding protestors at Ihumātao with taxpayer money would promote further squatting. We just didn’t think it would happen as quickly as it is in Shelly Bay” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “The prosperity of all ...
Our kindly PM registered her return to work as leader of the nation with yet another statement on the Beehive website, the second in two days (following her appointment of Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council on Wednesday). It’s great to know we don’t have to check with ...
A Pūhoi pub is refusing to remove a piece of memorabilia bearing the n-word from its walls. Dr Lachy Paterson looks at the history of the word here, and New Zealand’s complicity in Britain’s shameful slave trading past.Content warning: This article contains racist language and images.On a pub wall in ...
Supermarket shoppers looking for citrus are seeing a sour trend at the moment – some stores are entirely tapped out of lemons. But why? Batches of homemade lemonade will be taking a hit this summer, with life not giving New Zealand shoppers lemons. Prices are high at supermarkets and grocers that ...
You’re born either a cheery soul or a gloomy one, reckons Linda Burgess – but what happens when gene pools from opposite ends of the spectrum collide?In our shoeboxes of photos that we have to sort out before we die or get demented – because who IS that kid on ...
Summer reissue: Prisoner voting rights are something that few in government seem particularly motivated to do anything about. Could a catchy charity single help draw attention to the issue?First published September 1, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its ...
Hundreds more Cook Islanders are expected to begin criss-crossing the Pacific, Air NZ will triple the number of flights to Rarotonga next week, and about 300 managed isolation places will be freed up for Kiwis returning from other parts of the world. When Thomas Tarurongo Wynne took a job in Wellington at ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Ena Manuireva in Auckland It seems a long time ago – some 124 days – since Mā’ohi Nui deplored its first covid-19 related deaths of an elderly woman on 11 September 2020 followed by her husband just hours later, both over the age of 80. The local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Turnbull, Postdoctoral research associate, UNSW A global coalition of more than 50 countries have this week pledged to protect over 30% of the planet’s lands and seas by the end of this decade. Their reasoning is clear: we need greater protection ...
The Reserve Bank Governor’s apology and claim he will ‘own the issue’ is laughable given the lack of answers and timing of its release. Jordan Williams, a spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Union said: “It’s been five days since they came clean, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olga Kokshagina, Researcher – Innovation & Entrepreneurship, RMIT University Are too many online meetings and notifications getting you down? Online communication tools – from email to virtual chat and video-conferencing – have transformed the way we work. In many respects they’ve made ...
The Reserve Bank acknowledges information about some of its stakeholders may have been breached in a malicious data hack. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has commissioned an independent inquiry into how stakeholders' information was compromised when hackers breached a file sharing service used by the bank. “We ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Syme, PhD in Vertebrate Palaeontology, The University of Queensland This story contains spoilers for Ammonite Palaeontologist Mary Anning is known for discovering a multitude of Jurassic fossils from Lyme Regis on England’s Dorset Coast from the age of ten in 1809. ...
A tribute to the sitcoms of old? In the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Yup. Sam Brooks reviews the audacious WandaVision.Nothing sends a chill up my spine like the phrase “Marvel Cinematic Universe”. Since launching in 2008 with Iron Man, the MCU has become a shambling behemoth, with over 23 films (not ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University The alt-right, QAnon, paramilitary and Donald Trump-supporting mob that stormed the US Capitol on January 6 claimed they were only doing what the so-called “founding fathers” of the US had done in ...
The Point of Order Ministerial Workload Watchdog and our ever-vigilant Trough Monitor were both triggered yesterday by an item of news from the office of Conservation Minister Kititapu Allan. The minister was drawing attention to new opportunities to dip into the Jobs for Nature programme (and her statement was the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andreas Kupz, Senior Research Fellow, James Cook University In July 1921, a French infant became the first person to receive an experimental vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), after the mother had died from the disease. The vaccine, known as Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), is ...
The first Friday Poem for 2021 is by Wellington poet Rebecca Hawkes.While you were partying I studied the bladeI your ever-loving edgelord God-emperorof the bot army & bitcoin mine subsistingon an IV drip of gamer girl bathwaterfinally my lonelinessis your responsibility………. you seeI need a girlfriend assigned to me by the ...
The arming of police officers in Canterbury was inevitable with the growing numbers and brazenness of the gangs across the country – this should be a permanent step, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “It is unfortunate that we have come to the point ...
Celebrations in Aotearoa New Zealand to mark the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will begin on Thursday 21 January with ICAN Aotearoa New Zealand’s Wellington and online event, and continue on Friday ...
Hardly anyone is using their Covid Tracer app. Something needs to change.As the mercury approaches 30°C in Aotearoa, there is a good deal of slipping and slopping, but, let’s face it, piss-all scanning. As few as around 500,000 QR codes are being scanned by users of the NZ Covid Tracer ...
On the East Coast, a group of Māori-owned enterprises is innovating to create new revenue streams while doing what they love.New Zealand’s remote and sparsely populated regions are typically not the best places to create thriving brick-and-mortar businesses. In small communities miles away from any major centres, there are so ...
As we reach the height of summer, it’s not too late to do a safety check on your gas bottle. The Environmental Protection Authority’s Safer Homes programme has some tips and tricks to keep in mind before you fire up the grill. "If you’ve ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1Troy: The Siege of Troy Retold by Stephen Fry (Michael Joseph, $37)If you’re in any way unsure about ...
“We may as well knock on the gang headquarters around this country and tell them we all give up," says Darroch Ball co-leader of Sensible Sentencing Trust. “It is simply outrageous that violent offender, James Tuwhangai, has been released from ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Ireland, Israel, and Lebanon. Chart by Keith Rankin. The countries with the most recent large outbreaks of Covid19 are those with large numbers of recent recorded cases, but yet to record the deaths that most likely will result. In this camp, this time, are Ireland, Israel ...
RuPaul is in Aotearoa, kicking back in managed isolation to await the filming of an Australasian version of her hugely popular reality show Drag Race. But not everyone is happy about, explains Eli Matthewson. The world’s most famous drag queen, RuPaul, is in New Zealand, the government confirmed earlier this week ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Melleuish, Professor, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong What can we make of Clive Palmer? This week, he announced his United Australia Party (UAP) would not contest the upcoming West Australian state election on March 13. After a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gisela Kaplan, Emeritus Professor in Animal Behaviour, University of New England Have you ever seenmagpies play-fighting with one another, or rolling around in high spirits? Or an apostlebird running at full speed with a stick in its beak, chased by a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Jackson, Program Director, Centre for Policy Development, and Associate Professor of Education, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University Childcare centres across Australia are suffering staff shortages, which have been exacerbated by the COVID crisis. Many childcare workers across Australia left when parents started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Barrett, Senior Lecturer in Taxation, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Rhetoric plays an important role in tax debate and therefore tax policy. If your side manages to gain traction in the public imagination with labels such as “death ...
*This article was first published on The Conversation and is republished with permission* Whoever leads the Republican Party post-Trump will need to consider how they will maintain the rabid support of his “base”, while working to regain more moderate voters who defected from the party in the 2020 election. In a historic ...
Meanwhile Trev' again.
Their timing on releasing all this is extremely embarrassing to watch.
Should feel sorry for him, but he is a bullying arsehole, so not possible.
Will be very interesting to see how our caring, sharing govt will vote in his vote of no confidence in the new year, and whether they vote to support his bullying.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/123678280/parliaments-speaker-trevor-mallard-costs-taxpayer-333000-after-rape-allegation
Only of real interest to political opportunists looking for a hit out.
More important is the quote from a sufferer in Alison Mau's take.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/112955052/alison-mau?rm=a
This is an important counter to the 'poor me' expressed for the person who has had a payout.
This person has admitted to touching. What more is there to say really.
"he is a bullying arsehole"
You're siding with Judith on this.
Okay.
I am not siding with anyone.
It is my own opinion.
He is a prick. I have had the displeasure of meeting him, and have seen enough with his reported past escapades (Like his fist fight).
"It is my own opinion."
It is an ignorant opinion.
A man was sexually harassing young women. No, it was not technically rape, but to the unfortunate victims it had the same effect – that is, fear and a feeling of degradation. Mallard voiced those feelings with his comment that ran along the lines that… it looked to him to be rape.
Maybe unwise given his parliamentary status but not a sacking offence.
The perpetrator used the technical breach to obtain $160,000 compensation which is yet another example of the morality – or the lack of it – of the NZ justice system and indeed the perpetrator himself.
The perpetrator who was sued and apologised, changed the rules apparently, and paid out 1/3 of a million dollars of tax payer money to make it go away was Mallard.
[please provide a credible citation to support that allegation. Linking to hearsay and unsubstantiated opinion doesn’t count – weka]
Shit off.
So he didnt apologise, pay the bloke off because he was totally wrong?
mod note for you.
dropping you in premod until I get a response. You ignored my first request, now it's from a moderator. It's not ok to keep repeating the same lines without backing up your claim.
Do you mind pointing out which bit, as I had to guess.
You gave me 4 minutes and didn't actually say which bit you wanted a response to.
[You’re in premod because I was about to log off for the night and you were already spamming the thread with the same lines. Nothing to do with other timing. It’s pretty clear from my mod note and comments what I want backing up. We’re now in wasting moderator time phase and I’m inclined to just ban you until after the holidays simply because I don’t want to spend my time on this.
– weka]
I said apparently.
Forgive me.
"Apparently, according to political editor Barry Soper"
[you don’t get to decide where the boundaries are. Adding the word apparently doesn’t change things. Either provide evidence for the assertion or withdraw it or get a ban – weka]
In my opinion Mallard should resign. He's cost the tax payer thousands slandering someone which has been proven to be incorrect. It's not only Judith that wants him gone but also Seymour as well of course. I would be surprised if there were no Labour MP's that think he should go after this.
We should regard your opinion as … Chris T's.
That would be how it normally works.
And we should rank your view alongside of your previous views expressed here – hence Anne's response 🙂
I have no idea which view you are talking about.
"I am not siding with anyone."
Ha, ha, ha, ha!
Poetry!
I have worked with him along with many others during 1992-1996 when Mallard was Whip. A more straight up person you could not meet. Called a spade a spade, what you see is what you got. Far preferable to anyone who is of a touchy feely bent, and many other and who cannot see or read the environment to note that touchy feely is actually not on in a workplace and especially where there is an imbalance of power.
I don't know the person, I could easily find out. He has damned himself by owning up to hugging, kissing and complimenting – all actions that sensible people don't do in a workplace.
I doubt, given that he has publicised ie minimised what he did, that anyone other than he himself may have caused people in the future to wonder about 'fit' in a workplace where women work.
Your view/opinion exhibits a degree of personal animus that makes me wonder.
Sorry Mallard not whip all that time…..did not mean to imply this.
I agree with Judith Collins, the Speaker “has been reckless with his words”, which is “unprofessional” according to David Seymour, and the Taxpayers’ Onion wants him to pay the money back, which is ironic coming from them 😀
However, it was the current Speaker who instigated the Independent External Review into Bullying and Harassment in the New Zealand Parliamentary Workplace (https://www.parliament.nz/en/visit-and-learn/how-parliament-works/office-of-the-speaker/corporate-documents/independent-external-review-into-bullying-and-harassment-in-the-new-zealand-parliamentary-workplace-final-report/) and it seems he was overzealous and overstepped the line.
AFAIK, Parliamentary Services have been following up and implementing many (?) of the recommendations in the Report.
Arch hipocrisy from National, given nine years of creepy FJK including him yelling at the opposition that they support rapists.
Are you saying that condones what Mallard has done?
No, I'm saying Collins should shut the fuck up. Running lines that Mallard should resign because of unacceptable behaviour when she supported all Key all those years is bullshit politicking.
Given the brand Ardern has created for the govt, they shouldn't have to be told by anyone the bloke should go/be moved to a different position.
[You see, it’s comments like this one that make me wonder whether or not you’re really a clever troll siding with the DP gang in and of National. In this case, you’re trying to politicise the issue to attack Ardern.
Here’s another almost identical example, in a thread on a sensitive and complex issue: https://thestandard.org.nz/assisted-dying-law-in-new-zealand-and-the-uk/#comment-1770385.
My tendency is to give people the benefit of doubt but my gut instinct is telling me that you’re a troll. I have looked into your history here on this site and you’re a recidivist offender who has received many bans and countless Moderation notes. You’re wasting precious Moderator time.
Lprent recently cut the Gordian Knot when he said this in a Moderation:
You can look it up yourself.
Well, the tea leaves show an awful lot of ambiguity when asking about your motives here.
Feel where I’m going with this?
You’re in Pre-Moderation watch by weka but I think it’s fair to let you know that I’m actively monitoring you now to boot you off the site for a while. So, this is your final warning, as far as I’m concerned – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 6:43 PM.
I have seen it. But since this Pre-mod thing I can't post (well at least after they said it, so the booting off threat is a bit moot.
Edit: Apparently now I can, you just have to approve them.
[Warnings, warnings, warnings, so many warnings. Warnings are not threats. They are invitations to you to lift your game here. Something tells me that this is not going to happen.
This particular warning was not an invitation to you to rebut or litigate your moderation. It was a request to take heed.
Generally, Moderators are happy to answer any questions commenters might have about (their) moderation but in your case we’ve passed it and it would simply be wasting more of our time; ignorance is no excuse and you cannot feign it anyway.
You’d be better advised to get yourself out of Pre-Moderation by providing an adequate response to weka’s moderation notes. Of course, if you’re a troll, and I’m now more convinced of this, then it will be another token effort until next time with lots of “I’m sorry” and “please, forgive me”. If you’re genuine, then we will see a genuine and lasting attempt to lift your game. Others here make an effort to improve so why not you??
TTFN – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 7:17 AM.
Weka's moderation post didn't say which part of my post I had to clarify.
I get modding is annoying. I do it on other forums, but this
My post
"The perpetrator who was sued and apologised,"
Mallard in the case in question we were discussing Unless you deny this happening when it was reported in multiple media.
"changed the rules apparently,"
My fault. Should have put a disclaimer it was an accusation by Soper.
"and paid out 1/3 of a million dollars of tax payer money "
This is true and reported in multiple links provided by me.
"to make it go away was Mallard."
Admittedly my opinion, apologies, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist given the timing.
[all you had to do was provide a credible link to support your assertion that wasn’t from a partisan hack like Soper. I would have accepted something from a right winger, had it been credible. But seeing as how you can’t even be bothered to do that, I’m banning you until after the holidays so I don’t have to keep spending my time on this. Can’t emphasise how much wasting mod time is a factor in moderation, learn from this when you come back – weka]
[checked the Mod post to see previous moderations and there’s too many to look at. Three month ban mostly for wasting my time, but also, if you want to comment here you *have to provide evidence for assertions of fact especially about public figures. Noting in the back end because if this happens again you can expect a much longer ban. See also https://thestandard.org.nz/a-bit-about-how-the-standard-works/ – weka]
two mod notes.
Re the 4 minute, no warning complaint. My first mod note was at 8.06pm on 11/12/20. The ban was given after 10pm and you had posted again by then. I don't know if you didn't see my notes, or ignored them (again, the issue here is about my time spent and the onus is on the commenter to do the legwork), but my suggestion is to use the Reply list so you can see who has replied to you and if it is a moderator, go read what they say before doing anything else.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/trevor-mallard-defamation-case-settling-speakers-false-rape-claim-against-staffer-costs-taxpayers-333000-national/P2J7YX4WTQM3EZWLBCPAWPZGFM/
[thanks Chris. Had you provided that the first or even second time you were asked for it, two things would have happened. One is you wouldn’t now be on a 3 month ban. The other is that we could have had an actual political debate about that aspect of the situation, because instead of partisan hack reckons, we had some actual facts to work with. That’s what we are here for. – weka]
mod note.
Yes, agree but then she/National Party not given to introspection or knowledge of the glasshouses and stones analogy.
And arguably the involvement of Paula Bennett in this whole saga when she treated the fact that women had come to her as a political point scoring exercise rather than alerting the PM in a one on one basis was another low point.
Jacinda did say in politics we should be kinder to each other & that she would have an open & transparent government. She has failed on both counts & when questioned about Mallard’s behaviour doesn’t act like a decent prime minister. If Helen Clark was in charge Mallard would be off to the chopping block.
Why should Mallard go?
He accused a staff member of being a rapist, which basically cost the bloke his career (given the size of Wellington.
He is supposed to understand the intricacies of House Rules, yet doesn't know what rape is.
He tried to hide his apology in amongst the announcements of the biggest report of the year.
According to Soper this afternoon he changed the rules after doing it so he didnt have to pay for his bullying, as he obviouslyknew he would lose.
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/opinion/barry-soper-trevor-mallard-should-resign-for-his-disgraceful-behaviour/
there's a lot of unsubstantiated assertion in that opinion piece, and its from Soper, do you have a better reference?
Mallard made a mistake in an RNZ interview, conflating legal definitions of sexual assault with rape. He didn't know who the staffer was and from what I can tell believed that the person wasn't known generally. I don't know if he was mistaken on that.
No offence, and forgive me if I am wrong, but you seem to be coming across as trying to fob off what Mallard did as just a mistake, lets just forget about it.
Wellington is a small place, with loads of govt departments who all know each other and gossip.
Trust me. Most of them know who it is.
It's not 'just' a mistake, it's an important mistake, but not one that I think he should lose the Speaker role for. I haven't seen a convincing argument for why he should eg he knew who the man was and knew his words would seriously impact on the man.
Also, if you ask me who I think is more likely to be accurate and truthful over the nature of the assaults, Mallard or Soper, I'd pick Mallard. But I don't know the details of the case, so I am guessing.
Especially as we don't know the details of the case that had been described to Mallard at the time.
One the one hand you have the guy's description:
and at the other end there is Mallard saying:
I know the right wing have nightmares about "woke liberal" complaints, but there's more than just a semantic difference between those two descriptions of behaviour.
the extent to which those on the right are willing to use rape culture and minimising of it for political gain (including Collins today) is a big factor in why I'm more inclined to believe Mallard. Although it could just be that I don't trust Soper as far as I could throw him.
Agree with you Weka. I would trust Mallard over Soper any day and Mallard over Collins any day.
National Party is the last party to be acting shocked about this and calling anyone to account……bearing in mind the lack of ethical and moral framework that was so apparent last year.
There an important time delay between the statements. Mallard's was in reaction to the Debbie Francis report, a survey done of Parliamentary staff, ongoing cases of sexual shenanigans, Paula Bennett using the approach of several Labour staff members to her as a political point scoring exercise. There were allegations all round. At one stage it was thought that there were several of these men in staff positions.
I have not seen the statements from the person who got the payout before now. These were not around or public when all the above were going on. We did not know who it was.
So Mallard was not aware that the person had admitted to touching, kissing and complimenting ie his 'rape' response was not to this. It was to report after report seeming to be coming out about Labour staff having gone too far.
The point is in all of this is that the man has admitted to doing things that could be unwelcome, could cause women to wonder if they were safe etc with him, wonder if they are going to be able to keep working there. Power imbalance
Trust you? You're connected to the "loads of govt departments who all know each other and gossip"?
We should trust you on that basis??
Okey-dokey!
"Gossip"?
"Gossip" !!
Our new realty – gossip!
Nice, Chris T!
Shades of Helen Clark and her own issue over the legal semantics between "murder" and "manslaughter". Meh.
Soper's mate claimed it was all about an innocent hug and a hair compliment. Yeah, right.
334k is a lot of money to have been spent on lawyers.
Surely a legal opinion was given to Mallard at the onset.
It is a big stretch from unproven indecent assault to an allegation of rape.
I have little faith in any MP when it comes to a mental injury covered by ACC because I am not at all surprised by their ignorance.
Mallard has seen his error. If the situation affects how he does his job as speaker in the future, then his job has become untenable.
It may not have been proven in a court of law but from memory several women came forward with complaints about the same person. That indicated he harassed and degraded young women.
My memory of the context around Mallard's words was not a formal allegation of rape, but rather he regarded it as something along the lines of rape. A fair enough conclusion given what else was being reported at the time.
This is the usual kind of pathetic political one-up-man-ship game we have come to expect from National and ACT.
And so we minimise the 'things' that this person has done…….by applying male chauv standards. Next thing we know he'll be saying 'she couldn't take a joke'.
a hug, when one may have neither wanted or expected and certainly not normal in a public service setting.
compliments – most thinking bosses or people in charge know this is an absolute minefield.
kissing on the cheek – see above when one may have neither wanted or expected and certainly not normal in a public service setting.
These do sound overly touchy feely and unwelcome attention from someone in power to an underling and fit the usual definitions of sexual harassment.
Do not put words in my mouth which I did not say.
Clearly something happened and Mallard's stupidity has probably added to the distress of the women who spoke up about the government employee.
This appears to have been investigated by parliamentary services. They concluded the accusations were unsubstantiated so the only account we have of the nature of events is from the Soper interview.
There isn't really anything public backing up Mallards description of events, not even a claim by reporters that the accusations were more serious than described.
And yet the idea that Mallard read a report about a hug and felt that it amounted to something on the level of rape just doesn't scan.
No it doesn't, but your honour I'm not that stupid, wouldn't qualify as a defence and holds up even less in the court of public opinion.
Well, the former appears to involve a settlement, and the latter isn't actually a court.
Given the price of the advice I would like to believe the defence was of a higher standard than that…
Personally, I hope he's not taking the reputational hit just to protect the complainant by keeping the details of a serious sexual assault from being trawled through civil court.
300k isn't all that's stopping Grant Robertson from signing the cheques for a bold nay revolutionary government agenda of social and economic reform. In the greater scheme of things, it's fuckall.
I remember no such claim from Parliamentary Services!
What I do remember is evidence they tried to sweep the complaints under the carpet which many of us have found to be normal practice from Public Service entities when faced with allegations of bullying, sexual harassment and other forms of intimidation.
Your saying they swept an accusation of sexual assault under the rug?
Well, it wouldn't be the first time.
But other options include:
If I were offered a million dollars if I could pick the correct scenario, I wouldn't be picking that Mallard thought an innocent but unwelcome hug was a serious sexual assault akin to rape.
In the past that is exactly what some Public Service entities did when an employee came forward and tried to lay complaints about a superior officer.
In my case, it was bullying and intimidation but I did also report a series of obscene phone calls I was receiving around the same time. Instead of giving me support, they effectively accused me of lying.
It happened a long time ago now but I have noted from cases which have landed in the media from time to time that in reality not a lot seems to have changed.
I don't see how calling an accusation of sexual harassment 'a rape' and being unable to pursue that with the police is helping victims of sexual harassment. So unless the accusation was of that nature I don't see any difference between parliamentary services sweeping this under the rug and alternatively sacking the staffer for inappropriate behaviour. Probably they think the punishment was fit and you think it was a thorough cover up.
You need to look at the Debbie Francis report. Read press from the time. There was also an SSC(?) or parliamentary services (?) investigations. There were around 40 complaints, from memory, about things there.
These were piling up and then the latest, whether a conflation of several complaints, or what, was that there had been at least instance of more serious issues.
it did not come out of nowhere
we had no idea who was involved then though some could find out joining dots
all the accounts were saying that a person/s were persistently crossing boundaries
'kissing', 'hugging', 'complimenting' were not what Mallard was directly referring to, he may be hot-headed but he is not silly enough to call that rape.
They were unwarranted and unwise approaches to young female staff by a person who should have known better.
It's the appropriation of empathetic sounds while obviously not understanding a word they say that pisses me off. They just seem to think it's some sort of ritual one does to score points.
I was not saying that nothing did not happen. When it comes to what Mallard said happened (allegation of rape) this did not happen and the government employee was defamed.
The women who were harassed were put into a position by Mallard which possibly made it differcult to make a complaint to the police. Where there is no police complaint the police usually do not do an investigation. Not every person wants to make a complaint either.
I don't think it was Mallard who put them in that position. It was more the actions of Paula Bennett and the politically motivated furore – aided an abetted by some in the media – that followed. They didn't want to go the police. They wanted their employers, Parliamentary Services to take action -perhaps move on the person who was causing them grief.
Yep. Fair summary.
It is never good when an organisation investigates itself when bullying, harassment sexual assault and making up false allegations occurs.
Mallard did not make an outright allegation. He served to make a comparison with rape as the effects of the harassment on the young victims were reasonably serious. Not a good suitable description granted and he has acknowledged as much.
It is different to an allegation of rape, and that is conveniently being ignored by Collins, Seymour, Soper and other journos who have jumped on the story.
I do expect any MP or the speaker of the house who is in charge of Parliamentary Services to know the difference between bullying, sexual harassment, gaslighting, indecent assault, sexual assault, sexual violation and rape. All of these offences cause harm. In some cases years go by until a person is psychologically well enough to make a complaint and has the resources for a lawyer. In some instances the perpetrator continues their horrid behaviour and the employer needs a reason for them to be removed or excuses are made by the employer for not removing the perpetrator.
What is the answer?
Sorry. Missed a bit from the article
yeah, that's some of the unsubstantiated assertion from Soper.
In Soper's opinion.
Pretty sure Mallard ordering Tolley to "change the rules to protect me" would have raised some pretty big headlines, even if Tolley were inclined to go along with it. Seems more like Mallard stepped back from the issue due to the conflict of interest.
In which case it's interesting that Soper feels free to assert that.
@ mcflock..
really…?
I think if sopers' allegation that mallard had the laws changed to save his own pocket…are true..
mallard has to walk…
that is corruption..
(just in case anyone was wondering)
it is one thing to run off at the mouth…
…but to do what soper alleges..
..is corruption..
and he can't stay in that role that he now has..
"if"
Barry Soper went berserk when Labour won the 2017 election. He could not hide his anger and malice and behaved like a spoiled brat for a year or more afterwards at every PM media stand-up. Ardern's patience with him was remarkable. I would have told him to shit off and never return – which is why I never contemplated a political career.
I have long thought that soper is a feckin' idjit…
but that does not necessarily mean his allegation is untrue…
..and I really must note..that if a tory speaker was alleged to have done this..(changed the law to protect his pocket)
most here now defending mallard..would be screaming for his head..
..eh..?
If someone credible made the allegation and had evidence, Mallard would be in deeper shit than "Soper wants me to quit".
this is only day one of this little purler..
if true it has a way yet to run..
and if proven correct..
..I can't see mallard surviving it..
and..you all seem to be focused on shooting the messenger..eh..?
soper is just repeating what he has been told..
the focus should be on the proving..or not..of the corruption allegation
.
For one thing, NZ political commentators are breathless gossips who are completely wrong more often than they are correct.
The only message they communicate is their own. One or two of them have been treading the line between reporting and advocacy (ISTR allegations of friendship between them and the staffer?). So "if" you have any actual evidence that Mallard committed a corrupt act, take it to the cops.
um..!..you seem to be confusing me with the source of this allegation..
I am not making it ..
I am commenting on it..
So you have nothing other than your faith in the truth and accuracy of half a dozen words from a NZ professional parliamentary opinionator.
Like I said: "if".
a bit more than that..
all I am saying is that it needs investigating..
..and while not defending soper…yes I can see him spinning..
but this is a serious/detailed allegation..
..involving the speaker and the deputy speaker..
..so it can't just be ignored..
and I don’t see soper just making it all up..
You have a bit more than Soper's word for it?
No you don't.
You might not see Soper "making it all up". Neither do I. I'm quite prepared to believe that Mallard recused himself from making the decision due to a conflict of interest, and delegated Tolley to decide what the correct thing to be done was.
But I can definitely see Soper spinning a proper and responsible course of action into something corrupt, especially if Soper happened to be mates with the guy who got three definite complaints for inappropriate behaviour.
new zealand is crying out for a clark & dawes..
we have no political satire..
consider that satire is now called normal day in politics and then we don't need any more comedians.