Sam Uffindell speaks to the media. Video / Mark Mitchell
Tauranga's MP should be judged by his behaviour as an adult, not as a teenager, Winston Peters says.
His comments come after it was revealed National's Sam Uffindell, who won the Tauranga byelection in June, assaulted a 13-year-old boy while aged 16 and at Auckland's King's College 23 years ago.
Stuff revealed Uffindell apologised to his victim last year, but did not tell him about his political ambitions.
Yesterday Uffindell also revealed he may have tackled other students during the "raid" of the third form (Year 9) dorm, in addition to punching one student several times.
He was asked to leave the college the next day, finishing his schooling at St Paul's Collegiate in Hamilton.
The National Party confirmed Uffindell was suspended from St Paul's for leaving the school property without permission to go to a party on a Saturday evening - an automatic three-day suspension.
NZ First leader Winston Peters, a former Tauranga MP, told the Bay of Plenty Times he had sympathy for Uffindell, given his age when he assaulted the younger boy.
Former Tauranga MP and NZ First leader Winston Peters. Photo / George Heard
"I'm not excusing anything that's happened but the reality is ... I don't think that you can't find faults in a person."
Uffindell should be judged on his behaviour as an adult, Peters said.
In his view, Uffindell omitting to publicly disclose the incident during the byelection, particularly when asked about his biggest mistake, reflected this.
"You expect people to speak from their adult life, not stuff they did as a child.
"The fact he apologised when he did has to be respected. And there's no way that the timing of his apology was linked with him running for MP. Nobody thought Simon Bridges was going to resign," Peters said.
Former Tauranga MP Bob Clarkson said he felt that if Uffindell had been publically upfront about the assault during the campaign, people could have decided if they accepted it or not and carried on.
Former Tauranga MP Bob Clarkson. Photo / NZME
"It's a pity he hadn't disclosed it. It would've saved a lot of problems."
The Bay of Plenty Times asked shoppers in the Tauranga CBD on Tuesday for their views about the incident, whether Uffindell should have disclosed it to voters and if he should resign.
Several would not be quoted, but said Uffindell should not resign because it happened a long time ago.
Anna Hayns, 60, viewed the timing of his apology as "suspicious", but said knowing about it earlier would not have changed her vote for him because she voted for "policy rather than the person".
"But we're all young and dumb once."
John Delaney, 48, was "on the fence" about whether Uffindell should have made the incident public during his campaign.
"On the one hand, people will form a view on the type of character he is based upon his previous actions.
"On the other hand, it was a long time ago and we should be allowed to make our mistakes and pay whatever the price is and be allowed to still have future careers etc, that aren't damaged by what we may have done when we were 16 years old," the Avenues resident said.
Tauranga MP, National's Sam Uffindell speaks to media at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell
He did not vote for National in the byelection but said had he been inclined to do so, he did not think knowing about what Uffindell did would have changed his vote.
A 78-year-old man, who did not wish to be named, said it was "a storm in a teacup".
"How far back in someone's past do they have to go to find some disagreeable thing that's got to be reported and could affect his future career?"
Neither he, Hayns or Delaney thought Uffindell should resign.
A Mount Maunganui woman, 88, who did not wish to be named, said the matter should have been dealt with at the time.
"To bring it up 20 years later is not right."
In her view, Uffindell would not have been nominated if voters knew about the incident.
Approached for comment, prominent local National supporter Margaret Murray-Benge, said Uffindell was not the same person now as he was in 1999.
"Sam made a mistake, now he's a good person and he's a lovely, very fine man and a great father and he learned his lesson," the Western Bay of Plenty District councillor said.
"This tough time he is going through can be a great learning curve. Politics is rough and dirty and he's learning early to deal with it.
"Looking back over the shoulder 22 years isn't much help. We want to know, has he learned from it? Yes, he has. Has he got anything to contribute? Yes, he has."
Byelection rivals react
Tauranga byelection Act Party candidate Cameron Luxton said in his view, Uffindell was not "upfront" during the campaign.
In a question and answer during the campaign, the Bay of Plenty Times asked candidates about their biggest mistake.
Luxton admitted he drove drunk as a teenager. Uffindell said his biggest mistake was: "Not coming home to New Zealand sooner. There's nowhere we'd rather raise our kids".
Luxton said he decided to disclose his past after telling Act about it, which agreed "voters deserved to know before they cast their vote".
He said Uffindell should have been encouraged by National to speak about his school incident.
"It's not about what happened as a teenager - it's about being honest when the media asks and so that the voters can make an informed decision.
"That's the real issue here."
Asked on Monday whether he would change his answer to the question, Uffindell said a question and answer forum wasn't an appropriate platform to discuss such an incident.
He told the Herald he thought it would have been made public during the byelection, but stood by his decision not to tell the public himself.
Asked about the Uffindell news, Labour list MP Jan Tinetti, who came second in the byelection, said the matter was a "serious issue" and something for National Party leader Christopher Luxon to deal with.
