Well said, Nick. Love the fence post and blue suit. So many really worrying issues in here ... I personally wish the victim had gone to Police as the school did nothing. If that was my 13 yr old I'd have held the school accountable for this attack. Surely it isn't just sexual abuse we're concerned about to hold a school to account as at Dilworth? Surely being beaten with a bedpost by 4 senior boys is something that a school should be held accountable for? You cover many significant issues ... tis a great worry that people could even consider voting for National with representation like that. Ugh.
just a disgusting sack of shite, What gets me riled up is that the Nats withheld his back story from the public as you say they thought they could get away with that , and as for that odious creature Todd McClay not telling luxon what they knew about uffindell defies belief...
While I agree the candidate selection process for National needs overhauling this whole furore around what Uffendell did as a teenager is really depressing. My unease and concern at some of the holier than thou commentary stems from the fact that around the time a teenage Uffendell was being a high-school bully and really crap flatmate a very adult Trevor Mallard was fighting in parliament and hiding behind parliamentary privilege to publicly bully a whistle blower. Meanwhile David Benson-Pope faced allegations that as a (adult) teacher he physically bullied school students. Neither resigned from parliament. And both had senior roles following the allegations. The allegations of bullying in parliament and the Prime Ministers office made in the Herald yesterday deserve to be investigated further too. Here's hoping a QC is appointed to investigate that further.
You should look again. Those allegations were aimed at all of parliament, including the National Party.As has been pointed out there has been no specifics given, or proof of any sort to back up the accusations. The accusations come from a Labour backbencher. Labour say there are some ongoing "employment" issues with this backbencher which they are working through and hope to have a resolution by next week. Trevor Mallard's "fight" in parliament did not involve the police because it invOlved one punch at a person who was verbally abusive to him. Tau Henare admits that provocation. and draws a line under it. I'm not saying the behaviour of either MP was OK. As for the supposed bullying of a whistle blower from Mallard- I know nothing about, and have never heard it mentioned.The complaints about Benson-Pope went nowhere except to join other allegations of bullying against teachers that are always made. Perhaps he was a bully- I can think of a couple of teachers I had that would meet that criterion. As the mother of polynesian children I am very clear about the racism towards my sons from certain teachers. which is also a form of abuse. I notice you do not include in your examples Nick Smith's bullying and loud abuse of staff. Abuse and bullying within the culture of parliament were certainly confirmed by Mallard's investigation two years ago as Speaker also carried out by a QC. Whatever- your examples do not stack up against what Uffindell did. What he did with his gang of bullies was to physically, and verbally assault a much younger child when he was sleeping in his bed. There was no argument, or fight involved. It was just a vicious assault by Uffindell-who would have been a lot bigger than this child, and others. And he has now admitted not only to this vicious assault but also to others. He says he was a bully and a thug. His own words. Moreover it was kept quiet- I'm sure the parents of the child agreed to keep it quiet to protect the school. So Uffindell was asked to leave Kings, but able then to enrol at an associate school of Kings, St Pauls Collegiate in Hamilton. Also a posh private Anglican school. If this behviour had involved Māori or Pasifika boys the police, Oranga Tamariki and others would have been involved. There would have been no keeping it quiet in anticipation of a glowing future for the bullies involved.
I acknowledged the accusations of current bullying were i
relation parliament and the Prime Ministers office. I'm not suggesting it is a Labour only issue. Bullying is very much a human being issue. There was a 3 year age gap between Uffendell and the victim. I'm not condoning what he did but I'm saying it should not be life defining for anyone. No 16 year old as a first time offender would likely get a permanent criminal record for this type of offense. That's not how our Youth Justice system works. Today a student in the same year as my 13 year old daughter is attending school after twice assaulting students, with video's of the assaults being uploaded to social media. The police were involved and she is being dealt with appropriately through the Youth Justice system with a focus on rehabilitation and rightly so. The perpetrator will not have criminal charges on their record, and neither should she. Even if the perprator does end up in Youth Court at some future date the primary focus will be on rehabilitation (link attached below). Sadly the two victims have changed school as they no longer felt safe, and who can blame them. This is not a perfect outcome either by any means, but it does illustrate that in NZ we do not burden teenage first offenders of minor assaults (that sounds harsh but the victims did not suffer significant injuries, thankfully) with a lifetime criminal record no matter who they are. I'm glad Nick Smith resigned but I didn't include him because I was purposely looking for examples that occurred in the same time frame as Uffendell's assault. I did it to try and illustrate that adults who carried out bullying behaviors in that time period have been allowed to rehabilitate their reputations but we seem unwilling to grant a then teenage Uffendell the same grace. Benson-Pope's alleged actions went far beyond any typical teacher bullying even for the time period they were committed at. I've attached a link to Trevor Mallard below too. I guess my main point is that when do we forgive teenage crimes? Should Uffendell's teenage offending be treated more harshly than adult offending that happened a similar time period ago?
You made a big thing of the comments of a Labour backbencher when already it had been made clear there were employment issues , and No specific details of any sort of bullying. Information released today points to a process where this backbencher has been receiveng support and help because of his handling of issues with his staff. Why would a QC be involved for this situation. You talk about bullying at your daughter's school. Clearly that bullying was not just swept under the counter. It was serious enough for Oranga Tamariki and the police to be involved,but still the victms left the school because they did not feel safe. You have minimised the trauma Uffindell's victim suffered. He says he felt sick when he realised Uffindell is standing for parliament. The investigation of Uffindell now being carried out by QC is because someone else- a former flatmate has come forward accusing him of bullying and intimidation when he was 21 years old. A former female flatmate.He is denying this incident so an impartial investigation is necccesary. I still say you are conflating two different sorts of behaviour. Mallard taking a swipe at Tau Henare was in response to abuse from Henare. Not his finest hour, or Henare's finest hour. Henare does not walk around in fear of Mallard. I've seen him interviewed on this topic and he has acknowledgedhe should not have said what he did.MCready is a professionally litigious person., doing so to make a point.Mallard was not charged with assault! What Ufindell did was clearly assault. The flatmate who has come forward says she had to climb out a window to get away from Uffindell.' sviolent verball abuse and threats. Her father took her back to the flat the next day to get her stuff. He said everything was smashed up. Furniture, crockery. He said there was not one cup left that had an intact handle. His reflection at the time was-this guy has big problems.
I'm obviously not conveying my genuine concerns about these issues clearly enough. I'm unsure how to better convey my concerns around permanently barring anyone from public life for actions they took as a teenager so I'll leave things here - had Uffendell been reported to police and been dealt with by Youth Aid the media would not have been permitted to name him at anytime. Have a lovely weekend.
If that is your concern then I do not think anybody is saying that he should be barred from public life for actions he took as a teenager. The issue is the way he went about only apologising to his victim when he was about to enter public life. And not being up front with the electorate when he had the chance to be open,and honest. But now it is what he did when he was 21 that could derail him.
I agree with you there. But I'm definitely never throwing my hat in the ring if I have to admit to my teenage and early 20's sins which include stealing a motorbike, being a passenger in a car involved in a police chase, and more drunken debauched nights than I can count - one of which led to me being sacked by a 5 star hotel 😬. I'm not sure my early years reflect who I am today though.
Well said, Nick. Love the fence post and blue suit. So many really worrying issues in here ... I personally wish the victim had gone to Police as the school did nothing. If that was my 13 yr old I'd have held the school accountable for this attack. Surely it isn't just sexual abuse we're concerned about to hold a school to account as at Dilworth? Surely being beaten with a bedpost by 4 senior boys is something that a school should be held accountable for? You cover many significant issues ... tis a great worry that people could even consider voting for National with representation like that. Ugh.
just a disgusting sack of shite, What gets me riled up is that the Nats withheld his back story from the public as you say they thought they could get away with that , and as for that odious creature Todd McClay not telling luxon what they knew about uffindell defies belief...
What's the bet he stays.
National are in a tricky situation.
If they expel him from the National party he is still the elected MP and could stay as an independent.
If he agrees to go they are initiating another expensive by election.
They are playing for time hoping it will blow over and no-one will notice him staying.
While I agree the candidate selection process for National needs overhauling this whole furore around what Uffendell did as a teenager is really depressing. My unease and concern at some of the holier than thou commentary stems from the fact that around the time a teenage Uffendell was being a high-school bully and really crap flatmate a very adult Trevor Mallard was fighting in parliament and hiding behind parliamentary privilege to publicly bully a whistle blower. Meanwhile David Benson-Pope faced allegations that as a (adult) teacher he physically bullied school students. Neither resigned from parliament. And both had senior roles following the allegations. The allegations of bullying in parliament and the Prime Ministers office made in the Herald yesterday deserve to be investigated further too. Here's hoping a QC is appointed to investigate that further.
You should look again. Those allegations were aimed at all of parliament, including the National Party.As has been pointed out there has been no specifics given, or proof of any sort to back up the accusations. The accusations come from a Labour backbencher. Labour say there are some ongoing "employment" issues with this backbencher which they are working through and hope to have a resolution by next week. Trevor Mallard's "fight" in parliament did not involve the police because it invOlved one punch at a person who was verbally abusive to him. Tau Henare admits that provocation. and draws a line under it. I'm not saying the behaviour of either MP was OK. As for the supposed bullying of a whistle blower from Mallard- I know nothing about, and have never heard it mentioned.The complaints about Benson-Pope went nowhere except to join other allegations of bullying against teachers that are always made. Perhaps he was a bully- I can think of a couple of teachers I had that would meet that criterion. As the mother of polynesian children I am very clear about the racism towards my sons from certain teachers. which is also a form of abuse. I notice you do not include in your examples Nick Smith's bullying and loud abuse of staff. Abuse and bullying within the culture of parliament were certainly confirmed by Mallard's investigation two years ago as Speaker also carried out by a QC. Whatever- your examples do not stack up against what Uffindell did. What he did with his gang of bullies was to physically, and verbally assault a much younger child when he was sleeping in his bed. There was no argument, or fight involved. It was just a vicious assault by Uffindell-who would have been a lot bigger than this child, and others. And he has now admitted not only to this vicious assault but also to others. He says he was a bully and a thug. His own words. Moreover it was kept quiet- I'm sure the parents of the child agreed to keep it quiet to protect the school. So Uffindell was asked to leave Kings, but able then to enrol at an associate school of Kings, St Pauls Collegiate in Hamilton. Also a posh private Anglican school. If this behviour had involved Māori or Pasifika boys the police, Oranga Tamariki and others would have been involved. There would have been no keeping it quiet in anticipation of a glowing future for the bullies involved.
I acknowledged the accusations of current bullying were i
relation parliament and the Prime Ministers office. I'm not suggesting it is a Labour only issue. Bullying is very much a human being issue. There was a 3 year age gap between Uffendell and the victim. I'm not condoning what he did but I'm saying it should not be life defining for anyone. No 16 year old as a first time offender would likely get a permanent criminal record for this type of offense. That's not how our Youth Justice system works. Today a student in the same year as my 13 year old daughter is attending school after twice assaulting students, with video's of the assaults being uploaded to social media. The police were involved and she is being dealt with appropriately through the Youth Justice system with a focus on rehabilitation and rightly so. The perpetrator will not have criminal charges on their record, and neither should she. Even if the perprator does end up in Youth Court at some future date the primary focus will be on rehabilitation (link attached below). Sadly the two victims have changed school as they no longer felt safe, and who can blame them. This is not a perfect outcome either by any means, but it does illustrate that in NZ we do not burden teenage first offenders of minor assaults (that sounds harsh but the victims did not suffer significant injuries, thankfully) with a lifetime criminal record no matter who they are. I'm glad Nick Smith resigned but I didn't include him because I was purposely looking for examples that occurred in the same time frame as Uffendell's assault. I did it to try and illustrate that adults who carried out bullying behaviors in that time period have been allowed to rehabilitate their reputations but we seem unwilling to grant a then teenage Uffendell the same grace. Benson-Pope's alleged actions went far beyond any typical teacher bullying even for the time period they were committed at. I've attached a link to Trevor Mallard below too. I guess my main point is that when do we forgive teenage crimes? Should Uffendell's teenage offending be treated more harshly than adult offending that happened a similar time period ago?
https://youthlaw.co.nz/rights/the-youth-justice-system/
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/mallard-pleads-guilty-to-fighting-says-sorry-to-consultant/J2TTCZLWE6UU47ALOPKSHB44CY/
You made a big thing of the comments of a Labour backbencher when already it had been made clear there were employment issues , and No specific details of any sort of bullying. Information released today points to a process where this backbencher has been receiveng support and help because of his handling of issues with his staff. Why would a QC be involved for this situation. You talk about bullying at your daughter's school. Clearly that bullying was not just swept under the counter. It was serious enough for Oranga Tamariki and the police to be involved,but still the victms left the school because they did not feel safe. You have minimised the trauma Uffindell's victim suffered. He says he felt sick when he realised Uffindell is standing for parliament. The investigation of Uffindell now being carried out by QC is because someone else- a former flatmate has come forward accusing him of bullying and intimidation when he was 21 years old. A former female flatmate.He is denying this incident so an impartial investigation is necccesary. I still say you are conflating two different sorts of behaviour. Mallard taking a swipe at Tau Henare was in response to abuse from Henare. Not his finest hour, or Henare's finest hour. Henare does not walk around in fear of Mallard. I've seen him interviewed on this topic and he has acknowledgedhe should not have said what he did.MCready is a professionally litigious person., doing so to make a point.Mallard was not charged with assault! What Ufindell did was clearly assault. The flatmate who has come forward says she had to climb out a window to get away from Uffindell.' sviolent verball abuse and threats. Her father took her back to the flat the next day to get her stuff. He said everything was smashed up. Furniture, crockery. He said there was not one cup left that had an intact handle. His reflection at the time was-this guy has big problems.
I'm obviously not conveying my genuine concerns about these issues clearly enough. I'm unsure how to better convey my concerns around permanently barring anyone from public life for actions they took as a teenager so I'll leave things here - had Uffendell been reported to police and been dealt with by Youth Aid the media would not have been permitted to name him at anytime. Have a lovely weekend.
If that is your concern then I do not think anybody is saying that he should be barred from public life for actions he took as a teenager. The issue is the way he went about only apologising to his victim when he was about to enter public life. And not being up front with the electorate when he had the chance to be open,and honest. But now it is what he did when he was 21 that could derail him.
I agree with you there. But I'm definitely never throwing my hat in the ring if I have to admit to my teenage and early 20's sins which include stealing a motorbike, being a passenger in a car involved in a police chase, and more drunken debauched nights than I can count - one of which led to me being sacked by a 5 star hotel 😬. I'm not sure my early years reflect who I am today though.