I call bullshit

Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, June 22nd, 2009 - 17 comments
Categories: act, sexism, workers' rights - Tags: ,

I’d prefer not to wade into the David Garrett sexual harrassment fiasco, but having seen his pathetic blame-shifting in the media I’ve got to call bullshit on him.

Both Garrett and his boss Rodney Hide have been downplaying the sexual harassment with the excuse that Garrett was an oil rig worker for ten years, so it’s all just a big “steep learning curve” for him and he’s bound to make mistakes.

Aside from the class prejudice that assumes being working class is an excuse for being a bigot, this simply doesn’t stack up. David Garrett’s been an employment lawyer longer than he’s been an oil rig worker.

By his own admission in Parliament he’s been a successful employment lawyer for 15 years, in New Zealand for most of the 1990s and then more recently in Tonga:

As I said earlier in my first contribution, I have practised employment law for 15 years—since it became a speciality—mostly, in fact, representing employees successfully, very successfully.

He goes on to describe himself as an “aggressive employment lawyer” who “knew his stuff”.

The idea that this guy doesn’t know what’s inappropriate workplace behaviour is ridiculous. He knows exactly where the line is, and he crossed it. Time to stop making excuses and accept some personal responsibility.

17 comments on “I call bullshit ”

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  1. Merlin 1
    22 June 2009 at 10:09 am

    Well said IrishBill.

    I find it quite pathetic that he says he apologised to this woman “unreservedly” and is now making a whole lot of excuses. It’s not an unreserved apology if you go on to deny culpability. Especially when the denials don’t stack up.

  2. Redbaiter 2
    22 June 2009 at 10:27 am

    If women are upset by things men might say, then maybe they should give up work and go home and cry into their hankys.

    If they can’t cut it, what the hell are they doing there??

    This anti free speech anti freedom of expression bullshit has to stop.

    The “workplace” with severe penalties imposed for such subjective offences as “inappropriate” speech has been turned into a Stalinist gulag.

    If having women in the workforce necessitates these kind of restrictions on personal freedom, then to hell with them.

    It ain’t worth it.

    Better if they all stay home.

  3. Ianmac 3
    22 June 2009 at 10:42 am

    Ton Veitch was roasted for saying “I did wrong BUT…..” and went on to describe what he saw as extenuating circumstances. Garret said “I did wrong BUT…..” Is that OK?

    • burt 3.1
      22 June 2009 at 10:57 am

      Ianmac

      Veitch was roasted … ha ha ha… he bought his way out of trouble. I bet you or I couldn’t break a womans back and stay out of jail.

      What planet do you live on?

  4. vto 4
    22 June 2009 at 10:50 am

    Why is it that politicians think they can get away with syaing dumb shit like … “I was an oil rig worker for 10 years”.

    Garret simply exposes his ignorance again by assuming people will buy that.

    He is a one-term wonder

  5. toad 5
    22 June 2009 at 11:02 am

    vto, at the rate Garrett’s going he’ll be lucky to last one term.

    If the Worth saga was anything to go by, Garrett will be on final warning by now. But I suspect he is one of those guys who just can’t help himself.

  6. Craig Glen Eden 6
    22 June 2009 at 11:06 am

    Ok on one hand we can all make mistakes and maybe say things that afterwards we think, I should not have said or done that. But to say you unreservedly apologize and then say because you once worked on a rig that you are having difficulties adjusting to life in parliament, is just crap.

    I despair at this lot honestly. Sadly its not just the men who are arrogant in this Government the woman are not much better.

  7. toad 7
    22 June 2009 at 11:50 am

    Speaking of bullshit IB, this explanation from Family First’s Bob McCoskrie for the Rankin appearance / non-appearance has a nasty whiff to it.

  8. Christopher Nimmo 8
    22 June 2009 at 2:12 pm

    Well at least that does look as if Bennett may have been wise enough to stop it. And it’s a bit silly to complain about McCoskrie making an idiot of himself.

  9. George D 9
    22 June 2009 at 2:52 pm

    I wonder if this had happened in the mid 1990s, 15 years ago, whether it would have been reported. It’s hard to say, but possibly not. Then again, a lot isn’t reported in our current environment.

    Doesn’t make Garrett less of a disgusting prick, but it does show that society is slowly improving. Too slowly, of course.

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