Merry Christmas, Mr Mallard

Was Trevor Mallard's slide in the grounds of Parliament a better use of taxpayer money than feeding hungry children? Photo / NZ Herald

A young mother will die this Christmas because Trevor Mallard falsely accused a parliamentary staffer of sexual abuse and made taxpayers foot the bill for the legal action and claim settlement.

While Mr Mallard will enjoy a lovely Christmas with friends and family, the young father and his children will have a miserable Christmas, he without his loving wife and the children without their mother.

Trevor Mallard will continue his parliamentary career, getting paid nearly $300,000 a year plus expenses, plus a parliamentary pension and free air travel for the rest of his life when he retires, while a young family will have to endure the loss of the most important person in their lives for the rest of theirs.

The $333,000 it cost the taxpayer to settle Mr Mallard's false accusations could have funded the cancer drugs necessary to have kept not just one, but several vibrant young women alive.

Mr Mallard clearly thinks that spending that $333,000 on settling a legal issue of his own making is more important than prolonging the lives of women with breast cancer.

On top of that, Mr Mallard's recent decisions about such matters has removed the necessity for politicians to exercise a duty of care equal to that of ordinary citizens, and opened the door for them to spend large sums of taxpayers' money getting themselves out of legal binds.

Add to that Mr Mallard's decision to spend a ridiculous $572,000 on a playground in the grounds of Parliament while thousands of New Zealand children go to bed hungry each night and go to school hungry each day, and you have proof positive that he thinks politicians are a more deserving class of people that ordinary Kiwis.

This decision puts into stark contrast his priorities in comparison with the kindness rhetoric that the Prime Minister continues to promote.

Mr Mallard should apologise to taxpayers and pay the money himself out of his big salary, and take the Christmas break to straighten up his priorities in time for the opening of the new Parliament in 2021. If he's not prepared to do that, he should resign.

The fact that the Prime Minister and Cabinet have not told Mr Mallard that is the course of action he should take is another clear indication of where the Labour party's priorities really lie.

Chris Leitch

Leader, Social Credit