David Cormack
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All MPs can be scummy. But some MPs are more scummy than others.
🕑 Added 2020-07-26 02:09:20 +0000 UTC
It's been pretty gross.
Monday we got yet another resignation from the National Party which wasn't a surprise, they've been bailing like Henry the Eight's 7th and 8th paramours.
But this one was weirder. It was Rangitata Electorate MP Andrew Falloon. His statement invoked the suicide of his friends at a younger age and said that he'd lost another friend recently and was suffering mental health problems and would need to take time out.
In the middle of the statement it said, "I have made a number of mistakes and I apologise to those who have been affected."
And all political trainspotters are like "what the hell? What mistakes? Who's he referring to?" It didn't pass the sniff test.
Then National Leader Judith Collins released a statement. In her statement she said, "the National Party was advised of an issue relating to Andrew late on Friday afternoon and we have dealt with it this morning.
“Andrew is suffering from significant mental health issues and his privacy, and that of his family, must be respected.”
Again, this just added to the mystery. What was the mysterious issue that National was told about on Friday? Why did they wait until Monday to do anything about it? Who else knew?
It then came out that the Prime Minister's office knew.
And what they knew was that Falloon had sent a university aged woman unsolicited porn. Not of himself mind, of someone else. Falloon had been under police investigation for this in early July, but we were not told. Did the National Party know one of its MPs was under investigation for sending inappropriate images to young women and just casually not tell us?
The reason the Prime Minister's office knew is that the family of the young woman went to her office after getting nowhere with police - and maybe National?
The Prime Minister's office sought permission from the family before passing it on to the National Leader's Office. With permission granted, they told Collins' office on Friday afternoon. On Monday Falloon was telling us he wouldn't be standing at the next election.
Then the truth slowly emerged of what he'd done. And then other people came forward to say he'd done the same to them. Last time I'd checked there had been five people come forward to say Falloon had sent them inappropriate images. Police are now reopening the file. Falloon was stood down immediately.
On Wednesday morning, during Collins' regular media rounds, she was asked an oddly specific question. She was asked if she'd been told of any allegations of bad behaviour by Labour Ministers. It's an oddly specific question to ask because Collins had only been leader of National for eight days. But lo! She had in fact been told of something, and she'd passed that on to the Prime Minister's office she said.
What a wonderfully serendipitous piece of timing. After only eight days in the job, and just two days after her own MP was fired for awful and potentially criminal behaviour, Collins was able to return serve with claims of Labour Ministerial misdeeds.
The Prime Minister hastily arranged a press conference and announced that Iain Lees-Galloway was sacked as a Minister and would not be standing at the upcoming election.
The reason for his sacking was that as Workplace Relations Minister he had engaged in an extra-marital affair with someone in his employ. This creates a power imbalance in the relationship. It's something we see the world over, usually men, using their power to gain something of a sexual nature.
On the surface, the two stories looked the same. And on the surface both Collins and Ardern behaved the same. But just go a tiny weeny bit below the surface and the two stories are poles apart.
First off, there was nothing even potentially illegal with what Lees-Galloway did. As far as we know his act involved two consenting adults. It had also ended several months ago so wasn't an ongoing problem either.
Falloon on the other hand may have committed a crime. I hope Michael Woodhouse has now learned what unsolicited meant because that was this. Sending naked images - of yourself, or anyone else - to someone who did not want or ask for them is a form of abuse.
Lees-Galloway was immoral, and his behaviour a bit scummy but it wasn't a form of abuse.
And the behaviour of the two leaders? Miles apart too. Ardern never once mentioned in public that she had information about a National MP, just passed it on and let National handle it. It was suggested that when the truth drip, drip, dripped out on Monday evening about what Falloon had actually done, that it might have come from the PM's office. But it absolutely did not. And National should look a lot closer to home if they want to find out who went round telling the media (and in fact first told the media it was a schoolgirl before correcting themself).
And Collins? Why she gave a very honest answer to a very well-timed question in her media rounds.
Collins' office also didn't seek permission of the woman involved in the Lees-Galloway affair. I'm told, though not from a super reliable source, that the woman involved is not over the moon about this having been made public. Which means that Collins' office got the information from somewhere else. That just so happened to be the day after a major scandal broke of a sexual nature involving a National MP.
The point here is that both scandals were conflated in the media and in our minds, the sum result? All MPs are scummy. Which may be true. But these two events are not equal, not by a long shot.
This is not to say that all National MPs are gross perverts, nor is it to say that all Labour MPs are paragons of virtue (barring ILG). But it's important that we don't allow ourselves to be sucked into a narrative that is conjured up to deceive us.
It's also important that we don't let this sort of behaviour stop us from voting because "all sides are the same". It should be already known on the left that a depressed turnout favours the right, as right wingers fucking love voting, no matter what.
So as with any political scandal, these too shall pass. But we should look for patterns of behaviour. And between Hamish Walker's leaking of private information, Michael Woodhouse's deletion of private information that would be part of an investigation and now Andrew Falloon's potentially criminal behaviour, we see a pattern emerging of male National MPs thinking they can get away with things that they really shouldn't.
Comments
YahYahGAK
Anyway, the question was so rehearsed. Clearly they think we're stupid
YahYahGAK
I heard the question to Judy re "any other allegations of bad behaviour" on RNZ media watch - by that guy with the big microphone -has a morning show I think with Richardson-cant remember his name!!
