What a mess
Stuff reports:
A member of parliamentary staff has been stood down following an historic allegation of assault.
Tensions are high at Parliament after Mallard said on Wednesday morning that a rapist was working at Parliament. He said he gained the impression from a review into bullying and harassment by consultant Debbie Francis.
Speaker Trevor Mallard said he was satisfied Parliamentary Service has moved to make the precinct safe. Mallard wants to thank person who came forward.
Ardern and other party leaders met with Mallard to discuss his remarks.
She would not be drawn on whether Mallard had taken the correct course of action, and said she was not frustrated by the remarks.
Having the Speaker declare that there is a rapist working at Parliament was very unwise. If charges are laid, his comments could be seen as prejudicial.
A lot of parliamentary staff are upset at the comments.
Newshub reports further:
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says the alleged serial sexual offender at Parliament is not an MP or Parliamentary staffer.
“It is not a parliamentarian and it is not a parliamentary staffer – that’s number one – all the parties are clear on this matter,” Peters said on Wednesday.
“You just can’t go out and have an allegation where everybody’s now under scrutiny when none of them should have been.”
So how does Peters know who it is, or who it isn’t?