Barry Soper: Trevor Mallard's false rape claim story was 'hardest I've had to cover'

NewstalkZB political editor Barry Soper (right) says he had to put aside his friendship with veteran Labour MP and Speaker Trevor Mallard to cover Mallard's false rape claims. Photo / Herald file

Departing Newstalk ZB political editor Barry Soper has revealed he put his close friendship with Trevor Mallard on the chopping block by interviewing a parliamentary staffer the Speaker made a false rape claim against in 2019.

The veteran reporter, who at the end of this year is stepping away from the role he's held for several decades, described the story as the hardest he's ever covered and said Mallard begged him not to run it.

Soper's revelation came up in a just-released interview with re_covering, a Media Chaplaincy New Zealand podcast produced for RNZ featuring New Zealand's top journalists discussing the stories from their career that have shaped them most.

Mallard, who himself leaves Parliament this month to take up a diplomatic post in Europe, cost the taxpayer more than $333,000 when the staffer he wrongly accused of rape took legal action against him and the case was settled out of court.

When approached by the Herald last night, Mallard said he could not comment on Soper's remarks and cited a confidentiality clause in the settlement.

Subsequent news coverage of the expensive gaffe saw Mallard come under intense scrutiny, with National and Act urging Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to remove him from the role and others calling on him to pay the legal fees out of his own pocket.

Speaking to re_covering host and media chaplain Rev Frank Ritchie, Soper maintains that while the story was damaging to Mallard and put their relationship at risk, it was "a well-worthwhile story covering".

"It was the hardest story that I had to cover, because Trevor Mallard was a good friend of mine - I spoke at his wedding," he said.

"He pleaded with me not to run the story and said to me right at the beginning, 'You'll victimise the victim' - or 'retraumatise' was his words. And I said to him, 'I'm not going to retraumatise the victim, I'm going to traumatise you, as it would look to me at the moment.'"

Departing Newstalk ZB political editor Barry Soper talks to media chaplain Reverend Frank Ritchie for a podcast on his career. Photo / Stephanie Soh

Following that conversation, Soper pushed ahead with interviewing the distraught staffer Mallard had accused of rape, and in May 2019 brought his side of the story to a national audience.

"I would think in some quarters, having covered that story, it could be perceived as being some malice. But to me, it was justice and power over the powerless - and that's something that in a democracy we should never tolerate."

In a wide-ranging interview with re_covering, Soper also spoke about the very fortunate case of mistaken identity in 1991 that culminated in him introducing then-New Zealand Prime Minister Jim Bolger to Nelson Mandela at a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

The chance meeting led to breakfast and several more encounters with the legendary anti-apartheid activist that grew into a lifelong fascination with the man who'd go on to become South Africa's first President.

Soper also discussed his various rendezvous with other world leaders, his years holding the powerful to account, and the changing face of journalism in the interview.

He told Ritchie that when he does eventually retire from political reporting for good, he hopes he's remembered for "just being a decent person and being able to tell the story without malice".

Listen to the full re_covering episode with Barry Soper here.