Dangerous liaisons in a precarious time
One can only hope we have excoriated the bottom of the trough, but it would be most unwise to place any money on it. The shock announcement of Iain LeesGalloway’s dismissal yesterday bore all the classic traces of a political takedown.
The pieces were already in position when Opposition leader Judith Collins was asked in a TV interview whether she had “received anything about Labour ministers or Labour MPs”. Collins then delivered the throw with: “I have, actually.”
The events then follow the inevitable course. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announces, at a hastily called press conference, she has stripped the Minister of his responsibilities; the Minister issues a briefly-worded mea culpa and asks for his family’s privacy to be respected.
As in all cases of families drawn into such a fray, one can only feel for their pain and distress.
As the cloud dissipates, let’s be clear: What LeesGalloway did was untenable as a Minister of the Crown. As the Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety, only more so.
However, the timing of this sacking 59 days from a General Election is interesting. Lees-Galloway’s “inappropriate relationship” ended “several months ago”, according to the accepted account of events.
Why the exposure should occur now, not earlier, can be explained in several ways. Unless the most unlikely scenario unfolds and all parties come forward to clarify the chain of events, one can only speculate. But some are more probable.
Perhaps an informant sat on the information for several months and only now has come forward to contact the Opposition. Or the party bided its time to unleash the allegations when the shot would have the optimum impact.
We do know that National has been through some of the most tumultuous times in the party’s history. The rolling of Simon Bridges for Todd Muller, who only lasted 53 days before retiring, was enough to destabilise the electoral train. The odious actions of National MP Andrew Falloon were almost enough to derail it.
The departure of Lees-Galloway bears little comparison with that of the former National MP for Rangitata. If the allegations are true, Falloon’s actions weren’t by mutual consent; he unsolicitedly transmitted pornographic material to others.
The timing of the Lees-Galloway exposure raises another unsettling consideration. If this relationship ended months ago and he accepts he “acted completely inappropriately . . . and cannot continue as a Minister”, why didn’t he resign at the time?
If anything, this is what unseated a Government Minister who has resoundingly proved himself unfit for the important portfolios during the unprecedented challenges facing this nation. His morals, ethics and decision-making clearly exposed as wanting, Lees-Galloway had to go. Workplace affairs happen, but few would be as obviously inappropriate as this.
We can’t trust there won’t be more body blows in this election, but we can hope against hope the campaigns return to debating the body politic.
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