F for consistency
Kate Shuttleworth at NZ Herald reports:
A privileges complaint has been laid with the Speaker of Parliament over the behaviour of two veteran Labour MPs at last week’s Law and Order Select Committee.
Committee chairwoman Jacqui Dean is unhappy with the way Trevor Mallard and Phil Goff behaved during the appearance of Police Commissioner Peter Marshall and Deputy Commissioner Mike Bush.
Labour MP Trevor Mallard stormed out of the committee during a fiery exchange about the eulogy given by Mr Bush at the funeral of former detective inspector Bruce Hutton in April. …
Mr Goff argued with Ms Dean and swore after his questions about police redundancies and station closures were stifled.
Mrs Dean said both outbursts were unacceptable.
I understand Goff used the F word, which is definitely not allowed in Parliament.
Mr Mallard said: “The only comment I will make is the fact that Jacqui Dean has been public [about the complaint] is an indication that she’s not taking it seriously.
“You either let the Speaker decide if you’ve got a case or you make a fuss about it publicly, you don’t do both,” he said.
Does no one in Labour think about their record before they open their mouth? So according to Trevor you shouldn’t make a fuss about privilege complaints if you are serious about them. Well let’s look at some recent cases:
Here’s his own leader David Shearer just a few days ago:
New Zealanders are still none the wiser as to who leaked the Kitteridge Report. All we have is an MP who has resigned as minister but refuses to cooperate with the inquiry. The matter cannot lie here. This is why we have taken the matter to the Privileges Committee to get to the bottom of who leaked the report.
So according to Trevor’s own words, David Shearer is not serious about his privileges complaint as he went public about it!!
And if we go further back we have:
- 10 Oct 2011 – Press Release by Phil Goff about how Labour is laying a privileges complaint against the PM over comments in the House
- 1o July 2011 – Press Release by Trevor Mallard about how Labour is laying a privileges complaint against Bill English over comments in the House about asset sales
- 30 July 2009 – Press Release by Clayton Cosgrove about how Labour is laying a privileges complaint against ACT MP David Garrett over comments in a select committee
- 7 July 2009 – Press Release by Grant Robertson about how labour is laying a privileges complaint against Nick Smith over comments in Parliament relating to ACC redundancies
Trevor gets an F for consistency!