TIME TO GO*

Trevor Mallard has always annoyed me. He was a prat as a junior politician. Annoying as a Labour MP and minister and now embarrassing as Speaker of the House.

Here's what 'Granny' Herald says about him today:

EDITORIAL

Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard's actions over recent months bear the hallmarks of a curmudgeon who has lost all sense of proportion.

In allowing parliamentary security to issue a trespass notice against a political party leader for visiting a protest on the front lawn of the Beehive, he has descended beyond farce to witless asininity.

Mallard and the protesters faced off during the mid–February encampment in what appeared to be a contest to be crowned the dumbest.

One protester stripped naked and danced in front of police officers, another painted a swastika on a statue, others planted cannabis seeds in the gardens and relieved themselves against a war memorial. Mallard ordered the lawn sprinklers be turned on in the night and played schmaltzy pop songs at high volume.

Given his job description, it was Mallard who stooped the most in the churlish tit-for-tat.

By allowing a prohibition order to be issued against NZ First leader Winston Peters, Mallard has carried on where he should have long since stopped digging himself and the Speaker's designation, into ignobility.

        - New Zealand Herald

Mallard has been around for a while having joined the Labour Party in 1972, coincidentally the same year that I canvassed for votes for Brian Edwards (although I gave my personal vote to the Values Party).

In 1983 he contested his first nomination and in 1984 won his first seat - Hamilton West. Later, in 1993 he won the Pencarrow seat in Wellington which is now Hutt South. He has been, over the years, Minister of education, state services, sport and recreation, education review office, America's Cup, energy and others. 

God

He has experience.

But, he's still a prat.

Robert

Here are just a few of the silly things that he's done.

Mallard was implicated in the resignation of Don Brash after interjecting with an allegation in the House that Brash had engaged in an extramarital affair.

In 2007, Mallard punched National Party MP Tau Henare after Henare made comments about a new relationship Mallard had formed. 

In 2008, Mallard was warned by New Zealand's Chief Electoral Officer Robert Peden that signage on his electorate vehicle breached provisions of the controversial Electoral Finance Act and ordered him to update the signage to include an authorisation from party officials. 

Mallard's handling of the education portfolio was strongly criticised by teachers' unions, including the PPTA. In his first term as minister, he was strongly criticised by teachers during a long-running strike action over salaries.

In his second term, he was criticised for a program of school closures, that involved almost 90 schools across the country. The program was eventually stopped after it faced heavy criticism from parents and teachers.

In 2002, Trevor Mallard made crude comments about inserting beer bottles into "uncomfortable places" of IRB chairman Vernon Pugh and Australian Rugby boss  John O'Neill during a radio interview about following the withdrawal of co-hosting rights for the 2003 RWC.

In  2012, Mallard was accused of ticket scalping when he sold four tickets to the  Homegrown music festival for a $246 profit. The MP had in 2006 initiated legislation, the Major Events Management Act 2007, prohibiting ticket scalping for major events. 

In 2018 Mallard decided to remove 'Jesus' from the Parliament prayer which sparked a protest of around 1000 people who argued Mallard had overstepped his authority. Mallard said he consulted with parliamentarians and found that many of them were in favour of a secular prayer where the word 'God' remained but 'Jesus' was removed.

 
In 2020, Mallard was sued by a Parliamentary worker who alleged that the Speaker had defamed him by claiming in May 2019 that a rapist was working at Parliament. The plaintiff has described these remarks as defamatory and untrue. Later Mallard apologised to the parliamentary staff member whom he accused of rape. 

At the anti-mandate protests in Wellington this year Mallard, as Speaker of the House, Mallard was unable to order the protestors to be dispersed by force, so instead responded to their refusal of them to vacate Parliament's grounds by turning sprinklers on full and setting up loud speakers playing copyrighted music and pro-vaccination messages.

This month Mallard in his capacity as Speaker of the House approved Parliament Security's issuing of 151 trespass notices against individuals who had participated in the Wellington anti-vaccine mandate protest. Five of these trespass notices were issued to former Members of Parliament; namely Matt King, Winston Peters, Rodney Hide, Marama Fox and Darroch Ball. 

Following Peters' threat to seek a judicial review of the trespass notices and media coverage, Mallard withdrew the trespass notices. 

Time to go Trevor.

* The more observant reader will have noticed that certain words, phrases and sentences have been highlighted in a different text colour. We do this so that reader Robert, of Robert the apathetic disingenuous catholic sinner and toilet cleaner won't feel left out. Robert has a limited concentration span but is interested in things to do with god, religion, women's rights (them getting too many of them) and, of course himself. We've tossed in a few of these even out of context to keep him involved. The Curmudgeons Inc.ⓒ likes to think of itself as an all inclusive organisation.