Bully claims: MP ‘terrifying’
Exclusive Former garden show host Maggie Barry investigated twice but denies accusations
National MP Maggie Barry has been twice investigated over bullying claims this year — including accusations she expected staff to do political party work on taxpayer time, which would be unlawful.
The Weekend Herald can reveal two employees in Barry’s four-person office have accused her of bullying since May — one in a personal grievance complaint, and the other during the investigation of that complaint.
Neither staff member now works for Barry, the MP for the North Shore and the former host of Maggie’s Garden Show, a once-beloved staple of New Zealand television.
Barry concedes there were issues raised by former staff, but they were resolved “by mutual agreement” and “there was no finding that bullying or harassment had occurred”.
And she is backed up by a different former staff member who said she never saw any bullying behaviour from Barry, though she added that everyone has different ideas about what constitutes bullying.
The allegations follow other claims of bullying against demoted Labour MP Meka Whaitiri, Botany MP JamiLee Ross, and outgoing Retirement Commissioner Diane Maxwell, who all dispute the claims — or, in Whaitiri’s case, aspects of the claims — against them.
The Weekend Herald has obtained documents which show that during its investigations in August this year, Parliamentary Service heard allegations that Barry:
● swore and yelled at staff;
● called an employee “stupid”;
● used derogatory terms about other elected officials, which made staff uncomfortable;
● referred to people with mental health issues using offensive terms like “nutter”;
● discussed her employees’ sexuality in the workplace;
● expected staff would do work for the National Party during office hours, which they felt unable to refuse while knowing it was wrong, because they were scared.
One staffer told investigators he believed there was a huge power imbalance and that Barry was “terrifying” and could “destroy my career”. When questioned by Parliamentary Service in August, Barry denied all of the allegations.
“In particular, she disputes the claims regarding her attitude and comments attributed regarding people with mental health issues,” the investigation notes from her interview read.
“[She says] she does not use profanities and doesn’t swear or behave inappropriately . . . MB absolutely refutes that she expects staff to complete party work during work time.”
However, the Weekend Herald has heard recordings which appear to show Barry swearing in a work context, and others where she appears to call a local board member “barking”, one a “waste of space”, and another “a duplicitous piece of shite”.
It has also seen messages from Barry — who rarely used email but instead spoke into the voice-to-text function on her phone — appearing to request political work be completed during office hours.
Examples included writing her column “Maggie’s Messenger”, where she encouraged people to vote for Northcote MP Dan Bidois, and completing a “Super Blues” brochure for an over-60s National Party conference.
A former staffer who came forward to the Weekend Herald told Parliamentary Service that, during some weeks, up to half his work was party work. Parliamentary rules strictly stipulate party work is not part of support staff ’s job.
According to her interview with investigators, Barry knew it was against the rules.
But in a different recording obtained by the Weekend Herald, Barry said the opposite to the staffer the day he was due to give evidence for his coworker’s personal grievance case.
In it she said writing brochures on office time was “legitimate”, while acknowledging the investigators would not be impressed if they found out. “It’s how the world goes around,” she said. “You know the lay of the land.”
When questioned by the Weekend Herald yesterday, Barry said Parliamentary Service had looked into allegations from former staff.
“The allegations were vigorously denied and disputed and were thoroughly investigated by Parliamentary Service. There was no finding that bullying or harassment had occurred.
“The issues have all been resolved professionally and by mutual agreement. I have wished the employees concerned well and so I am surprised to see they are being repeated in a partial, selective and incomplete way.” She said she had “constructive and positive employee relationships”, and may refer the recordings of her to police.
“I have never given consent to such recordings being made or released and I do not waive my rights to refer the matter to the police against those responsible for recording or publishing, if indeed a secret recording has taken place.”
The allegations come as an independent review into bullying and harassment at Parliament was launched by Speaker Trevor Mallard this week.
National is also conducting an internal cultural review to ensure its staff feel safe, following accusations from several women that Ross harassed them.
At the time, leader Simon Bridges said he didn’t believe there was an environment of abuse and power within the party. Barry also spoke out, saying bullying behaviour had “no place” in National.
The former staffer who spoke to the Weekend Herald said hearing that had made him feel sick.
“When you’re the subject of bullying investigations it