Will Mallard and Little promise to quit also?

April 5th, 2012 at 10:00 am by David Farrar

ACC Minister Judith Collins has promised to quit if she or her office is found to have leaked an email at the centre of a spat over an ACC claimant as the auditor-general launches an investigation into governance at the state insurer.

So will Mallard and Little resign if their allegations it was Collins are found to be untrue?

Mr Little, along with Green MP Kevin Hague, earlier asked Auditor-General Lyn Provost to look into aspects of ACC’s governance that would not be examined by the investigations already under way by the privacy commissioner and being considered by the police.

Ms Provost said yesterday she would hold an inquiry examining aspects of ACC’s governance.

“The inquiry will examine how ACC manages a range of risks at the board level of the organisation. It will also examine how any matters relating to ACC claimant Ms Pullar that came to the attention of the board or individual board members were dealt with,” she said.

As well as this inquiry, Ms Provost intended to develop an audit proposal on ACC’s general operations, with a focus on its case management.

I’m pleased the Auditor-General is investigating.

Tags: ACC, Andrew Little, Auditor-General, Judith Collins, Trevor Mallard

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 5th, 2012 at 10:00 am and is filed under NZ Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

43 Responses to “Will Mallard and Little promise to quit also?”

RRM (7,216) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 10:12 am
So will Mallard and Little resign if their allegations it was Collins are found to be untrue?

If Judith Collins wants to make a overblown spectacle of herself over this, with threats of legal action and bold announcements about resigning “because I’ve got integrity!” (LOL! ) then that is fine. But I fail to see any good reason why Mallard & Little should be compelled to stoop to the same level??

I remember the day I first realised what an utter joke this woman was.
It was back in the first term when she announced she was gonna crush boy racer cars. (Remember THAT? How’s that working out?)

Just a typical National party Woman: Shrill, condescending, and all defensive and nasty the moment anyone calls her on anything. Just a lot of peroxide, faux- leopard print and hot air. Lots and lots of hot air.

Wonder if today is the day she’s going to get around to suing Mallard & Little?
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MikeG (301) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 10:16 am
typical overblown Farrar statement – “So will Mallard and Little resign if their allegations it was Collins are found to be untrue?”
Will Collins resign as an MP or just as a Minister? Mallard and Little are not Ministers, so (obviously) can’t resign from being Ministers.
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YesWeDid (883) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 10:22 am
Why does Collins need to promise to quit? Surely if she has been found to be lying then Key would sack her?

And the same would apply to Mallard and Little, if Shearer is unhappy with their actions he could relieve them of their responsibilities.

But DPF; what do you mean by ‘quit’? That they would quit parliament?
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backster (1,777) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 10:23 am
She certainly dealt to that Chauvel in the house yesterday. If he is the legal eagle that Mallard and Little are relying on then they are in trouble. Judith has engaged a QC so the bill starts mounting now and the loser will be paying costs. Mallard better start conning pocket money out of kids wanting to go to rock concerts now.
Of course Mallard and Little won’t resign when they lose, they are bullies and muckrakers by calling an will be so till the grim reaper takes them down
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Pete George (17,596) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 10:30 am
But I fail to see any good reason why Mallard & Little should be compelled to stoop to the same level??

Odd comment. Making accusations despite prior clear denials, and not fronting up with any supporting evidence, is very questionable politics. Especially from someone with prior form.

And going by comments on The Standard:

Pete, it’s simple enough.

Mallard only needs to have enough evidence to make his claims a reasonable belief. That’s probably all he has at the moment.

Releasing that info would put a stop to finding out the truth of what was going on. Not releasing the info means there is a greater chance of getting to the truth.

This suggests all Mallard is worried about is “having enough evidence” to avoid defamation (should it come to that).

Any dishonest tactic justifies bringing a minister or government down?

This is politics at it’s worst. And unless he’s certain of success Mallard even seems willing to use Shearer, who will suffer more than him if it backfires.
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tas (294) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 10:35 am
RRM:

But I fail to see any good reason why Mallard & Little should be compelled to stoop to the same level??

What you really mean is:

But I fail to see any good reason why Mallard & Little should be compelled to defend their integrity??

Any respectable MP would resign if they are found to be making baseless accusations.
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Ross12 (407) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 10:36 am
I see the “rusted on” Labour party supporters out in force above using Mallards smear tactics.

As I said when this started, I applaud Judith Collins for drawing a line in the sand over what is essentially deteriorating standards by our politicians as well as standing up for her own reputation. If politicians want drag themselves up from the bottom of the polls which ask about which people in society we respect the most then they have to start behaving like adults.
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Elaycee (3,497) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 10:43 am
RRM: “Wonder if today is the day she’s going to get around to suing Mallard & Little?”

Yup – today is the day. And good on her.
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ross69 (2,374) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 10:51 am
David,

I didn’t realise that Ms Collins intends to quit Parliament if she’s found to have told porkies. Can you please show where she has said she’ll quit Parliament?

I find it strange that she continues to take legal advice over this matter. Isn’t she sure whether she has lied or not?
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Keeping Stock (8,801) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 10:55 am
@ YesWeDid – Shearer must be happy with Mallard and Little, given his disclosure on Firstline yesterday that he gave them the go-ahead to attack Collins. So much for his promise not to engage in “gotcha” politics.

But Mallard won’t resign; after all, he has a long track record of smears and unsubstantiated allegations, and he’s still in Parliament. Why would he change the habits of a lifetime. But if he is found to have defamed Collins, his career as a TradeMe scalper will go into overdrive!
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ross69 (2,374) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 10:56 am
> Surely if she has been found to be lying then Key would sack her?

Well, you would think so but you shouldn’t take anything for granted. The issue is that if she was sacked or resigned, she’d presumably still remain in Parliament. There goes her integrity…
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big bruv (11,201) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 11:00 am
Don’t be silly, no left wing MP is ever going to resign from the highest paying job they have ever had.
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RRM (7,216) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 11:00 am
tas –

The real story is SOMEONE LEAKED CONFIDENTIAL INFO FROM ACC.

Collins is trying to deflect attention away from that onto this sideshow about “her reputation”.

It is cowardly and pathetic.

(Cowardly and pathetic is about all I expect fron Nat women, since Social Development Minister Paula Benefit refused to answer those questions about social welfare and instead just shot down the citizens who were asking their Minister the questions. Sad to see Jude “gonna crush cars yO” perpetuating those same poor standards. The born to rule / I own you attitude of the Nat party elite clearly lives on… )
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Keeping Stock (8,801) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 11:01 am
@ RRM – check this out:

Judith Collins is going ahead with her defamation action against two Labour MPs and Radio New Zealand.

Papers will be filed next week against Labour MPs Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little, as well as the state broadcaster.

Collins has revealed this morning she’s hired Auckland QC Jonathan Miles to lead her defamation case against Mr Little, Trevor Mallard and Radio New Zealand.

Ms Collins says she’s prepared to go through the process because people expect MPs to have standards.

“I believe it’s a good case and that’s the advice I’ve got but it’s a very difficult process and it’s not something people should engage with lightly and I noted that’s been said to me,” she told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking.

She has confirmed she’s funding her own legal action.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbpol/56854421-Collins-going-ahead-with-defamation-action

One of my commenters has noted that Jonathon Miles QC is “the best defamation lawyer in the country”, and given that Collins is funding this herself and won’t be wanting to flush her money away, I’d suggest that Messrs Mallard and Little might have an uncomfortable Easter weekend.
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RRM (7,216) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 11:06 am
@ keeping Stock –

Well good luck to her. I guess she has to follow through [and has to succeed] now, or else forever be a laughing stock…

Ms Collins says she’s prepared to go through the process because people expect MPs to have standards.

Oh what UTTER BS! She’s doing this to make herself look tough. Do politicians ever listen to themselves?
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eszett (2,020) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 11:11 am
So will Mallard and Little resign if their allegations it was Collins are found to be untrue?

What exactly are the allegations? Did at any point Mallard or Little say that it did in fact come from herself or her office?
As far as I understand they basically questioned how she can be sure that the email wasn’t leaked from her office.

Certainly that’s what they are getting at, but is that enough for a defamation suit?
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tas (294) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 11:12 am
RRM:

The real story is SOMEONE LEAKED CONFIDENTIAL INFO FROM ACC.

Exactly. And Mallard is distracting us from that issue by alleging that Collins is responsible without any evidence to back it up. She is being forced to defend herself against this smear.
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Pete George (17,596) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 11:17 am
eszett: Labour claims Judith Collins is the source of ACC leak

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2514109/labour-claims-judith-collins-is-the-source-of-acc-leak
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RF (716) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 11:20 am
The left wing drop kicks that use this blog to smear the National Govt are free to express their views no matter how many disagree with them. Its called democracy.

A great pity that Left Wing blogs will not tolerate similar posts critical of Labour. A very precious bunch, in fact a nasty bunch.
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Pete George (17,596) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 11:21 am
It is all over claims last week – repeated without the legal protections of Parliament – that Ms Collins or her office leaked sensitive ACC information.

“The finger points to the minister – the Minister of ACC,” Mr Little says.

http://www.3news.co.nz/Collins-Mallard-Little-play-political-chicken/tabid/1607/articleID/249183/Default.aspx
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alwyn (167) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 11:36 am
@keeping-stock 11.01am.
It is trivial I know but I have never heard of an Auckland QC named Jonathon Miles.
There is a Julian Miles QC. I wonder if he is the one they mean?
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YesWeDid (883) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 11:38 am
@Pete George – I’ve listened to the link you gave for the Mallard interview on RadioNZ and maybe you would be kind enough to point out the exact moment in the interview where Mallard defames Collins, not your version of what you think he said but what he actually said.
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Chuck Bird (3,436) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 11:38 am
I note from the link above

“I have looked at the comments carefully and frankly, the comments were soft compared to her calling David Benson Pope a pervert,” says Mr Mallard.

What is wrong with calling someone who perves on schools girls and belongs to an S & M club a pervert.

http://briefingroom.typepad.com/the_briefing_room/2006/11/the_secret_life.html

Judith calls a spade a spade.
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Pete George (17,596) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
alwyn – according to Whale, yes, it’s Julian Miles.
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Lee01 (2,171) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 12:07 pm
“Collins is trying to deflect attention away from that onto this sideshow about “her reputation”.

It is cowardly and pathetic. ”

Rubbish. Her reputation is not a sideshow. She is showing strength and courage in defending her name against the cowardly smears and pathetic attacks aimed at her by a couple of gutless left wing retards.

And I’ll take Nat women over the shreeking lesbians and feminist baby killers that infest Labour and the Greens any day.
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Keeping Stock (8,801) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 12:08 pm
@ alwyn; dead right; the Newstalk link was wrong; definitely JULIAN Miles QC
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voice of reason (491) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 12:09 pm
“YesWeDid (628) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 11:38 am
@Pete George – I’ve listened to the link you gave for the Mallard interview on RadioNZ and maybe you would be kind enough to point out the exact moment in the interview where Mallard defames Collins”

Listened to the interview a few times – around 2.15 the interviewer says something to the effect of “You claim the leak came from the ministers office and and you are basing this allegation on an anonymous email”

Mallard says “Yes”- but is he saying yes to getting the info from an anon email or to agreeing the leak came from the ministers office?? – slightly ambiguous perhaps.
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Pete George (17,596) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 12:18 pm
YesWeDid/voice of reason – I can’t check that at the moment, no audio. I presumed that was the clip from the description. I’ll have to listen to the whole context – and it may be relevant to consider the context of other statements made by Mallard eg in the house.

voice of reason – are you the person who until recently commented at The Standard as The Voice of Reason? You come across as being quite different.
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DJP6-25 (1,100) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 12:25 pm
RF 11:20. It’s in their nature, and quite unchangable.

cheers

David Prosser
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ross69 (2,374) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Pete

In the interview between Mallard and Mercep, Mallard made the point that you can’t prove a negative. How does Collins know that her office or her associate’s office isn’t the source of the leak? Certainly Mallard expressed his belief that she or her office (in the widest context) may well be the source. I’m not sure how that is defamatory.
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ross69 (2,374) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 12:29 pm
VoR,

I agree. The problem is that Collins refuses to answer questions as to why she apparently printed a copy of the Boag email and who had access to the hard copy of that email. How can Collins be certain that whoever had access to it didn’t leak its contents?
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hmmokrightitis (1,242) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 12:43 pm
Put simply, Julian Miles would have been asked for, and expressed, an opinion, as to the odds for success. Based on that, he has been instructed.

Popcorn time
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Psycho Milt (1,344) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 12:47 pm
So will Mallard and Little resign if their allegations it was Collins are found to be untrue?

I expect they’d certainly commit to quitting Cabinet immediately if Crusher wins.
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tknorriss (323) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 12:50 pm
I notice in the Radio NZ interview that the interviewer makes what sounds like a defamatory statement against Collins, expressing what he understands to be Mallards view, and Mallard doesn’t correct him. So, taking those things into context, it could well be that the other things that Mallard has said would support what the interviewer suggested was his view, especially since Mallard didn’t try to correct the statement by the interviewer.
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ross69 (2,374) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 1:06 pm
Julian Miles seems to be a supporter of David Bain. Hilarious.

http://www.harpercollins.co.nz/docs/extracts/9781869508340_extract.pdf
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hmmokrightitis (1,242) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 1:13 pm
ross69..

Hilarious because? It fits your prejudices? Or a lack of understanding of the law?
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tknorriss (323) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 1:20 pm
“Julian Miles seems to be a supporter of David Bain. Hilarious.”

Ross69, that is a typical ad hominem attack that seems to be the typical leftie smear attack.

What you are implying is:

Julian Miles is a David Bain supporter
Therefore he is a crap lawyer.

I think you should crawl back into your hole.
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KevinH (943) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 2:06 pm
“So will Mallard and Little resign if their allegations it was Collins are found to be untrue?”

Interesting question but the answer would be unlikely. Winston Peters raised the resignation question.The Herald’s Adam Bennett wrote:

“Ms Collins’ bravado in batting away those questions continued when New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined in, asking her whether she would resign if it was found she or her office was involved in the leak.”

Mallard and Little haven’t responded to DPF’s question yet, but no doubt will be asked before the day is out, and the response will be of interest.
Judith Collins has asked for an apology and a withdrawal of comments from both Mallard and Little, so at worst for them that is all they may be asked to do.
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voice of reason (491) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 2:25 pm
“Pete George (12,796) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 12:18 pm
….voice of reason – are you the person who until recently commented at The Standard as The Voice of Reason? You come across as being quite different”

No that is not me. I have used vor name for a few years – mainly on sports/ rugby blogs.
I have never posted on the standard – nor do I read it.
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Pete George (17,596) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 2:48 pm
Thanks vor, thought so. Keep it up (reasonable comments and not reading The Standard).
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tvb (3,303) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 4:13 pm
Mallard and Lyttle should not be relying on Chauvels advice on this because Chuvel is not objective
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wreck1080 (2,837) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 6:49 pm
rrm :remember the day I first realised what an utter joke this woman was.
It was back in the first term when she announced she was gonna crush boy racer cars. (Remember THAT? How’s that working out?)

Its working brilliantly in my neigbourhood. My suburb is a magnet for boy racers in summer and it was at times intolerable.

I’ve noticed a huge drop in boy racer activity since the crusher collins crackdown. Although there is one prick who lives nearby who exceeds 100kph past my place every couple of weeks (in my built up 50kph area with lots of children around). We cannot do anything about it because he does this infrequently so too hard to catch him out.
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Viking2 (9,462) Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 8:01 pm
Well here is what happened to the car ready for the crusher. Not a single car crushed yet.

The first car in New Zealand destined to be crushed under tough new boy racer legislation has been seized again by authorities, after police say it was the subject of a last minute switch.
Police confirmed yesterday they had recovered the 1982 Toyota DX belonging to Karn Clarrie Forrest, of Milton, which was the subject of a court order last year.

Dunedin-Clutha area commander, Inspector Greg Sparrow, said police had been conducting inquiries this week in relation to the car.

“This follows information from the court that the vehicle surrendered to be crushed was not the vehicle specified in the court order.”

You will note that this is todays news. haha

Car switched before date with crusher
By Hamish McNeilly of the Otago Daily Times
6:48 AM Thursday Apr 5, 2012

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10796861

So, say 5 years for a defamation hearing, maybe. shame really cause we could do without Mallard.
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Will Mallard and Little promise to quit also?

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