The National Party has lodged a motion of no confidence in Speaker Trevor Mallard over his handling of the anti-mandate protest outside Parliament, which is now in its ninth day.
The motion reads: "That the House has no confidence in the Rt Hon Trevor Mallard as Speaker of the House of Representatives due to his childish, provocative and embarrassing behaviour during the occupation of and protest at Parliament grounds in February 2022, which was counterproductive to resolving the situation and done without the support of the New Zealand Police."
Attempts by the Speaker to deter protesters by playing music and the Parliamentary debate over the loudspeakers has had little effect, instead copping criticism from some MPs and members of the public.
“Speaker Trevor Mallard’s behaviour over the past few days has been unedifying, embarrassing and childish. Many New Zealanders are appalled and so are we," Shadow Leader of the House Chris Bishop said on Wednesday in a statement confirming the move.
“Actions like crowd-sourcing songs for a Spotify playlist to play to protesters and turning on the sprinklers have made people wonder what on earth Mr Mallard was doing.
“You can disagree with people without disrespecting them, and Mr Mallard’s petulant behaviour has only inflamed an already tense situation."
Bishop said they "do not take this step lightly", noting that the Speaker's actions "were done without the support of the New Zealand Police".
“To express no confidence in the Speaker is a serious step. But it is clear Mr Mallard’s actions have made the situation worse, not better," he said.
“The fact that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will not express a view on Mr Mallard’s actions should speak volumes. She should now drop her support of him and replace him with a new Speaker who can command respect across the Parliament but also among the wider public.”
National leader Chris Luxon told Breakfast on Wednesday that a "much better plan of where we're going and how we’re dealing with this next phase" of the pandemic must be laid out.
“I really think the Government did a good job in 2020, giving really good, clear communication, but it’s been a shambles from 2021 and into this year."
National's leader says the Government needs to clearly lay out how the next phase of the pandemic is managed to address this. (Source: Breakfast)
A majority is needed in Parliament for the motion to pass.
It will appear on the order paper tomorrow.
It follows a motion of no confidence in the Speaker taken by National in February last year over the handling of incorrect rape allegations he made against a former Parliamentary staffer, to whom he later apologised. The motion of no confidence failed.
The staffer took Mallard to court in January 2020, alleging the Speaker had defamed him.
More than $330,000 in taxpayers money was spent to settle the legal dispute which ensued.
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