Labor continues to demand Andrew Bayly face consequences

National MPs refuse to answer questions over Andrew Bayly insulting worker, while Labor says PM’s response is ‘weak’.

Bayly on Friday released a written complaint against him filed by a worker while Bayly was on a ministerial visit.

The complaint says Bayly wondered why the worker was still working and told them to “grab a bottle of wine and go home…get some wine and f— off,” and kicked them then called “losers” in front of their boss, minister’s aide, marketing staff and other employees – forming an L on his forehead with his fingers.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon defended Bayly on Monday, saying that while the trade minister’s behavior fell short of what was expected of a minister, he had apologized “unreservedly” and ” truly”.

“More importantly, I would expect that in the future — and I made this very clear to him, and he reassured me — that there would be no more of this behavior,” Luxon said.

Bayly, however, also questioned the plaintiff’s account, saying that while he apologized for putting the worker in that situation, he didn’t believe he used the F-word, but he didn’t mean to. have any dispute about what he claims to have said.

“I don’t think I used that word, but the biggest problem is that I put him in a situation where he felt offended and for that I apologized to him, I offered him my apologies twice.”

National MPs were reluctant to talk about the issue when they attended their caucus meeting on Tuesday.

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said he was surprised by the news the previous week.

“Yes. And he obviously apologized for that and that’s something for him, as well as for the Prime Minister and other people directly involved… I’m sure he apologized clearly about that and that’s appropriate.”

He declined to say whether Luxon had done enough to handle the situation.

Correctional Services Minister Mark Mitchell also had little to say on the matter.

“The Prime Minister has resolved this issue and so I have no further comment to make. I think Andrew has apologized for his behavior, he has apologized directly to the person who felt offended, It was the right thing to do.”

The Minister of Mental Health, Matt Doocey, was even more economical in his remarks.

“Andrew Bayly has apologized. Rightfully so. And I’ll leave it at that…he clearly stated that his behavior was not acceptable.”

Ōtaki MP Tim Costley was also surprised.

“You know, it’s a huge surprise that he would do something that would offend others…I think it’s not in the character of a member of our team to upset someone like that.”

He said he couldn’t remember the last time someone called him a loser, but acknowledged it was probably a high school type interaction. He doesn’t remember calling anyone a loser himself, saying “that’s just not what I do, that’s not the way I operate.”

Labor calls for Bayly to lose portfolio

Labor leader Chris Hipkins reiterated his view that Bayly should face some sort of demotion.

“This type of behavior clearly deserves some form of sanction, whether it’s the removal of a wallet or the removal of wallets. I think just saying to someone ‘oh, that wasn’t very good’ is not a particularly strong signal,” Hipkins said. said.

“I think there are still a lot of questions for (Luxon) about why he thinks it’s acceptable for a minister in his government to call someone a loser for working late, why he thinks it’s acceptable for a minister in his government to insult someone because they” “I work late, and the only sanction really is him saying he didn’t think they were responding to his standards – well, he shows no evidence of that.”

He also wondered how sorry Bayly was.

“Apologies always seem a little disingenuous if you then say you disagree with the facts put forward by the person making the complaint.”

MP Kieran McAnulty said Bayly’s behavior was “not really enough” but he would not fault her for her swearing.

“I’m not going to stand here and criticize someone for swearing, I’d be a hypocrite,” he said.

“I think it’s pretty clear from the audience’s reactions that they’re not impressed. It’s probably not, uh, ‘eff off,’ you know – we’d probably all see it as a joke. But the calling someone a “loser” and putting the “L” on your forehead? It’s quite hard. »

He said he didn’t think he’d ever done that, “but can I say, with my hand on my heart, that I didn’t tell anyone, as a joke, to go away? No, so I’m not going to criticize him for that. But I don’t think I’ve ever called – certainly anyone I wasn’t friends with – a loser.

Deputies have been fired for similar inappropriate behavior, he said.

“They weren’t ministers, they were held to a higher account.

Ayesha Verrall said Bayly’s behavior was “totally inappropriate conduct” and that Bayly should be demoted.

“I particularly think that this worker who feels that a person of authority is in his workplace and humiliating him, calling him a loser, is not appropriate.

“I agree he should be demoted, you shouldn’t be able to behave like this and not face any consequences. We all know that if the boot was on the other foot and the worker attacked the Minister in this way, there would be consequences.”

Willie Jackson didn’t seem surprised, however.

“That’s sort of the attitude of people in the National Party, it seems like a ‘born to rule’ attitude,” he said. “I’m really disappointed in him, no worker deserves to be treated like that, no New Zealander deserves to be treated like that and I hope the Prime Minister looks at it again. I think it’s a shameful behavior.

“He must have totally misjudged the situation but no no no, he should be removed from this portfolio… the Prime Minister must act.”

Ingrid Leary said this was unacceptable, particularly from a minister, and Luxon’s response was “weak”.

“Weak leadership. Not the same level he expected of us when we were in government. So he applies double standards.

“I think there’s more to take from this story, I think there are more questions than answers,” she said. “Obviously there are two different accounts, so we need to figure out which account is correct. And there would also be people who saw what happened.

“It’s really important to get to the bottom of what happened. If his account is not true, then big questions arise about his continued existence as minister.”

Helen White said she hated when people used words like “loser”.

“I hate it. I think it’s very disrespectful… because we’re all actually one people – so this government is kind of continuing on that – and yet treating people like they’re inferior is simply a mistake. It’s absolutely wrong to do that.

“I have seen the most wonderful people who don’t win much and they are not losers, they are often heroes. I think we just need to remember our supermarket workers during Covid to remind us that it You don’t have to earn a lot of money to do good in this country. Are our nurses losers?

“I like Andrew Bayly, I get on well with him, I hope he learns that words like that – if that’s what was said – are just totally inappropriate, there’s no nothing light about it.

“He was a money manager, he made a lot of money, he did well in business, he should be humble enough to realize that other people are doing good in our communities and don’t necessarily make the money he does got it – don’t I?

“It’s hard work being in politics and I don’t like to kick people when they’re down, but it’s something close to my heart because I’ve seen it before in my job, I’ve seen this kind of “us and their kind of mentality and it’s just not acceptable… I’ve had some really good interactions with Andrew, so it’s nothing personal, I just don’t think we should talk about people that way in our country.

Luxon ‘comfortable’ with Bayly approach

Luxon, however, was not backing down on his approach.

“I’m comfortable with where we are. I’m not excusing his behavior at all, he hasn’t lived up to my expectations at all, he’s very clear about that.”

He rejected suggestions that Bayly was disputing the facts of the case.

“In my conversation with him on Friday, I went through the transcript that we received Thursday evening with him, he didn’t really take issue with much, he may have taken issue with some of the tone but it didn’t have really matter, frankly, and he He also acknowledged it He didn’t defend it with me at all… it’s important, but the way you present it is not the way I like it. was presented in my conversation with him,” he said.

“There was no debate that he had caused harm and insult and we went through his transcript, and he said ‘yes, I might take issue with the tone but I take full responsibility for it ‘.”

Luxon confirmed that he did not personally contact the company or the complainant, but that his office did.

“They made multiple outreaches…my office contacted the complainant…Andrew Bayly wrote a subsequent letter to the individual, asking: ‘I’m very happy to meet in person, I’m very happy to chat further on the phone’.”

He said it was up to the complainant to decide whether he wanted to meet Bayly.

Questions were also raised about how the complaint – which had been emailed to all parliamentary parties but marked as spam – had disappeared from MPs’ inboxes.

Luxon suggested these questions were “conspiratorial” from the Labor Party.

Hipkins rejected this.

“I mean, we just laid out the facts because the media was asking us why we didn’t share what we knew, and the reason we didn’t share it was because we couldn’t find it .”

He said the redactions made when the government released the complaint were appropriate to protect workers’ privacy.