The National Party must be wondering how many more times it can undermine itself.
After a horror period before the last election – marked by leadership squabbles and poor behaviour from some MPs – there was a sense that under Christopher Luxon’s leadership, things had changed.
Luxon enjoyed a successful first conference as leader over a week ago and then, last Monday, a 1News Kantar opinion poll had National and Act ahead of their centre-left rivals. But any sense of satisfaction was short-lived.
Late the same day, Stuff reported that new Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell had been ‘asked to leave’ Kings College in 2000 after being involved in a serious assault on a third former.
As it turns out, Uffindell revealed this matter to National’s Tauranga selection panel, but it was not passed on to the voting delegates. Nor did Luxon find out until the Monday it became public.
Subsequently, further allegations have been made about Uffindell’s conduct while a student at Otago University, including from a former flatmate who said she had to lock herself in her room and then climb out her window as he pounded on her door shouting obscenities.
That revelation prompted Luxon to stand Uffindell down from the National Party caucus while an investigation is carried out by Maria Dew QC.
National Party leader Christopher Luxon.
Gaurav Sharma
But just when National must have been wondering what to do, along came Labour’s Hamilton West MP Dr Gaurav Sharma.
Sharma started by writing a rather confused opinion piece for the New Zealand Herald, but it contained explosive accusations against the Labour Party about bullying.
The Prime Minister’s Office released a statement on behalf of Labour Party senior whip Duncan Webb rejecting the accusations and saying the whip’s office had been working with Sharma over employment issues in his office.
That sparked an even more explosive Facebook post from Sharma, in which he specified what he says was bullying from former senior whip Kieran McAnulty, now a minister, and allegations of misuse of public funds by a Labour MP. In the post he said the bullying had had a big impact on his mental health.
Parliamentary Service says it had investigated Sharma’s allegations of inappropriate spending and found the spending he was referring to was appropriate and within the rules.
Then news media reported anonymous comments from formers staffers in Sharma’s office, who accused him of being a bully.
Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern.
As Labour leader, Jacinda Ardern has reiterated this, telling RNZ that Labour’s whips intervened over employment issues in Sharma’s office, but the MP had not always agreed with “those attempts at constructive interventions.
Ardern said Sharma had never raised the issue indirectly or directly with her.
More bullying
At the same time, there have been other media reports, again citing anonymous sources, accusing Tukituki MP Anna Lorck of bullying, although the behaviour appears benign.
Sharma, though, continues to ratchet up pressure on Labour about his perceptions of being bullied. This suggests the Hamilton West MP does not want a long political career, certainly not as a Labour MP.
It is not difficult to perceive of measures being taken against Sharma, as he continues to breach collective caucus responsibility by continuing to speak out against the party.
Sharma, like Uffindell, might find his political career is short-lived.
Selection process issue again
Labour too might be wondering if it got its selection process wrong in making Sharma its candidate at the last election, just as National must surely be questioning why it selected Uffindell as its candidate for the Tauranga by-election.
Why did those running National’s selection process – which includes the new president Sylvia Wood – not recognise the danger of selecting Uffindell, given National’s recent past with botched candidate selections?
At the very least, Luxon says Uffindell’s past misdemeanours should have been made known to the voting delegates and then to the voters of Tauranga.
Apparently, senior MP Todd McClay – who was the campaign chair for the by-election – had passed the information on to one of Luxon’s staff, but they failed to tell Luxon. Given the seriousness of the matter, though, why had McClay not warned Luxon directly and given him some clear political advice about the risks involved?
National senior MP Todd McClay.
Critics have repeatedly pointed to the fact that Trevor Mallard was appointed Parliament’s Speaker even though in the early 2000s he had thrown a punch at former National MP Tau Henare in the parliamentary lobbies.
On the other hand, though, others point to how former Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei was hounded out of Parliament after admitting to claiming more than she was entitled to on the domestic purposes benefit when she was a young mother.
Many of those who now say Uffindell should not pay for the wrongs he committed as a young person are likely to have been among those who called for Turei to resign over her misdemeanour.
Own goal
As it is, National MPs are frustrated the party has scored another own goal.
Labour has now also scored an own goal and both parties are now even.
For voters, it might just reinforce in their minds the hopelessness of politics, given neither scandal – for want of a better word – has any impact on their daily lives.
That apathy or disdain for politics is also reflected in the number of candidates standing for local government. Despite the controversy around the Government’s Three Waters reform, it does not appear to have prompted a renewed interest in local democracy.
The contentious Three Waters reform does not appear to have prompted more people to stand in this year's local body elections.
Potential candidates might be put off by the attacks politicians now face on social media and might not want to put their lives up for inspection. Uffindell has found out just how brutal that can be.
Back to national politics, and both Luxon and Ardern have some tough decisions to make.
In the case of Uffindell, National is waiting for Dew to finish her investigation in the next couple of weeks. Once he gets that, Luxon will have to choose between ditching Uffindell or supporting him.
Likewise, how long can Ardern put up with Sharma’s attack on his own party before she acts?
Brent Edwards is NBR’s political editor.
