Unhelpful

The HoS reports:

A Government MP has been reprimanded for lewd conduct just weeks after the resignation of National’s Richard Worth.

Act MP David Garrett was spoken to by party leader Rodney Hide after making sexual comments to a female member of the party’s Parliamentary office.

Hide said last night he had cause to speak to Garrett after learning the fledgling MP had made “off-colour” remarks. He said he hoped the incident would not lead to the end of Garrett’s career as a member of Parliament. …

Hide said the matter could be escalated to the Parliamentary Service – which employs the staff member – if there was a formal complaint. He had met with the staff member to assure her any complaint she made would be handled properly.

Hide said Garrett was “a guy who has come from a rough, tough background”.

“I explained to him we set high standards in our Parliament across all parties.

“It is a learning experience in becoming an MP. I said it is good he can learn quickly – because he has to.”

Act president Michael Crozier said he had been unaware of the incident but expected a report to be made to the party’s board when it next met in a few weeks. “David has a lot to learn. He really hasn’t been in the Parliamentary side of politics before. You have to learn quick.”

University of Otago political scientist Bryce Edwards said Hide could not be faulted for his handling of the incident. But he said the incident was a “blow” for Act and the National Government.

Rodney sounds pretty unimpressed. As he said, you need to learn quickly what you can and can’t say when you are an MP. That’s one reason I’ll never be an MP – my sense of humour is far far too black to survive such a standard.