David Farrar: Equality of suffrage seen as bad by Radio NZ

Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell has a simple proposed members’ bill to amend the Bill of Rights Act to have equal suffrage extend to local government.

Equal suffrage is a fundamental human right. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says:

Wendy Geus: Accuser Chooses Trial by Media

Luxon called Uffindell accuser’s bluff

Susie Ferguson, in her regular weekly grilling of Chris Luxon, was determined to get her pound of flesh after Marie Dew’s independent investigation failed to uphold the accusation against Sam Uffindell, originally reported on Radio NZ.

Although 14 people contributed to the investigation, the accuser, for whom the procedure was arranged, failed to show, only submitting a written statement making it very difficult for Dew to adequately explore the matter.

Peter Dunne: Sam Uffindell affair

Maria Dew KC’s inquiry into the allegations against Sam Uffindell was intended to achieve two purposes. The first was to determine the extent and accuracy of the various allegations made against the MP about bullying and related claims in his earlier life. The second purpose was to enable National leader Christopher Luxon to make a reasonable judgement, based on the evidence, whether Uffindell should be allowed to remain a member of the National Party Caucus.

On the face of it, Ms Dew’s finding that Uffindell “did not engage in the serious behaviour alleged in the media” appears decisive and sufficient for Luxon to reach the conclusion that Uffindell should now be reinstated to the National Caucus. It appears the findings were based on interviews with and written submissions from a significant number of people.

Bryce Edwards: National’s unsatisfactory exoneration of Sam Uffindell

It’s hard to have confidence in the National Party’s supposed exoneration of MP Sam Uffindell over allegations of ethical violations as an adult. The party’s processes have been far too opaque, which means there will always be a cloud over the integrity and character of their new MP for Tauranga. And, perhaps even worse for National, it raises questions about the party’s own integrity and transparency.

Yesterday Sam Uffindell announced at a press conference that an independent investigation into his behaviour as an adult at the University of Otago had “cleared” him. Together with National’s leader Christopher Luxon and party president Sylvia Woods, Uffindell fronted up to the media to report on the month-long investigation carried out by Kings Counsel lawyer Maria Dew.

Mike Hosking: Plenty of lessons from Uffindell saga

So as predicted in the battle of wayward MPs, as far as Sam Uffindell is concerned, there is nothing to see here.

As regards Gaurav Sharma v Sam Uffindell, National beats Labour. Labour dragged it out and had secret meetings that they pretended didn’t happen until they did, and then pretended they weren't secret at all.

They eventually sent him to the world of independence where he currently sits, so far, with no more smoking guns or firepower by way of allegations.

Mike Hosking: Another shabby week in the world of politics

Is the biggest winner out of the Sam Uffindell drama the Government?

Think of all the things they would have dreaded being talked about while we busied ourselves on the cock up that was essentially a two-fold mistake.

Mistake one: the lack of up-front honesty in putting it out there from day one. Select him, I have no problem with it, what you did as a kid should not be a life sentence.

But it was always going to get discovered Uffindell himself said so, so front foot it.

Mistake two: the idiots in the selection process, including the Party President, should have told the right people. And the right people is not a flunky in the leaders office, it’s the leader themselves.

Those simple things would have avoided all this.

Kate Hawkesby: No matter where it goes for Uffindell, there’s a bigger problem for National

 

So, Sam Uffindell has now been stood down from caucus while the National party investigates some new allegations that have come to light from when Uffindell was a uni student.

He's been accused of banging on the bedroom door of a female flatmate in 2003, screaming obscenities, she claims he was a bully. The former flatmate says she lived with Uffindell and three other students for several months in Dunedin in 2003, she says he was verbally aggressive. 

John MacDonald: Attention Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern - this is how you deal with a bully

If we gave out medals for dealing with bullies, I think the National Party would win gold and the Labour Party would probably crash and burn in the semi-finals.

No, it wouldn't even get that far. It probably wouldn't even qualify.

Because what we've seen from Christopher Luxon in relation to the Sam Uffindell situation shows just how shameful Labour has been in failing to deal with one of its own MPs who - currently - is the most powerful person in Parliament.

Bryce Edwards: Is Tauranga headed towards yet another by-election?

If National causes yet another by-election to be held in Tauranga, not only will it cost the taxpayers another unnecessary $1m for the taxpayers after Simon Bridges called it quits earlier in the year, but National will also pay a big price in terms of its reputation and integrity.

A by-election is definitely on the cards, now that more damaging revelations about National’s new MP Sam Uffindell have come to light. National’s leader is now distancing himself from his MP, saying: “We’ve had an MP involved in completely unacceptable and unlawful behaviour.”

Although there is further investigation taking place, it’s hard to see how Luxon will be able to welcome Uffindell back fully after this. Even if Uffindell is cleared of further allegations, and if no more dirt comes out on him – which is looking increasingly unlikely – National will want to be free of him as quickly as possible. And if that means Uffindell has to resign, then National will make it happen. They will then try to make a virtue of not putting up with low standards (even if that’s exactly what has happened).

Bryce Edwards: The Uffindell scandal raises big questions about integrity in National

National is dripping “blue blood” again. The revelations over Sam Uffindell’s violent assault indicate that the National Party under Christopher Luxon hasn’t quite shed the toxicity and internal damage of the last few years.

The crises besetting the party have recently been well documented in journalist Andrea Vance’s new book “Blue Blood: The Inside Story of the National Party in Crisis”, but the party had hoped that the internal turmoil and scandal of those years had been left behind. This was a particular aim of the party’s successful weekend conference – to show that under new management, the party’s culture had changed. But that message has been undermined by this scandal and, once again, National faces serious questions about its integrity and culture.

The facts about the Uffindell scandal

Kerre Woodham: What was National's selection panel thinking keeping this quiet?

On a day when National should be soaring, and scoring all sorts of points with the latest political poll giving National and ACT enough votes to form a Government and Labour at its lowest since 2017.

When Andrew Little has had to concede that just nine nurses have applied to come to New Zealand when he said look, there's thousands. We don't need to change anything around immediate residency because we've got thousands of nurses who want to come here - so far, just nine.

And when the office of the Auditor-General has delivered what the opposition calls a scathing indictment of the Three Water’s proposal. A damning analysis of the overlap of proposed governance structures, lack of access to information by the public to scrutinise the proposed water entities, a lack of performance measures and a lack of integration with other reforms and local planning.