Outrageous; embarrassment : PM, Collins trade letters over Trevor Mallard saga
Judith Collins and Jacinda Ardern. (Photo / NZ Herald) Outrageous; embarrassment : PM, Collins trade letters over Trevor Mallard saga Wed, 12 May 2021, 6:29PM
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and National leader Judith Collins have been swapping strongly worded letters regarding the totally inappropriate saga in the House earlier this month.
Collins is still calling for Speaker Trevor Mallard s head, saying Ardern should tell him to leave the role for the sake of upholding the integrity of Parliament .
Mallard had used the privilege of the House to provide the truth about what he had falsely described as rape.
Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi.
Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas
The party s MPs walked out yesterday accusing National Party leader Judith Collins of using the House as a forum for bashing Māori .
Co-leader Rawiri Waititi was ejected from the House for taking aim at what he called racist rhetoric from the National Party.
He performed an impassioned haka on the floor as he exited, joined in solidarity by co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Green MP Teanau Tuiono.
Collins says she will not let up questioning the government and its plans for partnership with Māori.
The exchange sparked a debate on whether MPs should be allowed to call each other racist in the House, with the Speaker ruling policies and views could be labelled racist but not MPs.