Jacinda Ardern should make Speaker Trevor Mallard pay the price for his costly mistake msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
But while Mallard appeared nervous, his tone contrite, it was very much an act of self-interest; a tactical performance designed to stop the avalanche of bad publicity surrounding Mallard from spoiling the end to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s stellar year.
As speaker, Mallard has more powers than most members of parliament to be able to “ask” to front up to a parliamentary committee in order to put his apology on record. He needed to muster all the resources at his disposal to prove to Ardern that he could perform a mea culpa
like other Labour ministers who have made mistakes before him and, unlike most of them, not lose his job.