Remember the report that National commissioned from Maria Dew QC into the actions of Tauranga MP Sam Uffindel?
It was originally estimated to take two weeks from August 10, 2020. Then on August 29 a National Party spokesperson said it would take another couple of weeks which expired some time ago.
The expected return date was some time ago.
Last Week Spinoff reported that the Dew report could be some weeks away.
Sam Uffindell, the MP for Tauranga, was stood down more than a month ago after allegations were levelled at him from a former Otago University flat mate. While Uffindell disputed those claims, they followed earlier reporting that revealed had been a violent bully while a student at King’s College.
A review, to be carried out by Maria Dew KC, was ordered by the National Party into Uffindell’s conduct and was initially expected to be completed within a fortnight.
It was subsequently delayed and Christopher Luxon told TVNZ’s Breakfast today he didn’t know when it would be finished.
“There’s no further update,” he said. “It’s really important that the process is followed properly, they were serious allegations. Maria Dew is a qualified King’s Counsel… I want that process to be robust.”
Luxon admitted that it was “frustrating” and said he would have liked the report to be completed by now. The people of Tauranga deserved to know whether their MP would be reinstated, he said.
But there are recent reports that Uffindell has been campaigning locally in Tauranga for National. Just check out the photo in this post.
And it has just been reported that the Dew report has been received by National and a statement is pending.
It looks like Uffindell has been cleared. Which is not surprising. The events happened a long time ago and people should be given the opportunity to rehabilitate.
But the whole event shows National’s hypocrisy. The next time they talk about being tough on crime or advocate for tough measures be taken against young offenders remember how they thought that one of their own should be treated differently.
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