Parliament's Wall of Shame #3

Tau Henare

Tau Henare has once again shown what a complete douche bag he is through his Twitter feed. The Jackal doesn't like to see such atrocious behaviour like this and has therefore included Tau Henare in the Parliament's Wall of Shame. There is a certain amount of decorum and proper conduct required from our supposed leaders, something Tau Henare is woefully lacking in. Recent derogatroy statements by Henare about Hone Hawarewa can best be described as a brain fart by the National MP:

 

The prolific Twitter user sits in parliament looking busy, but he's actually just sending idiotic tweets. Back in Februrary this year, Henare abused Labour's Stuart Nash tweeting that "Stuart Nash looks like a tosser." Prime Minister John Key has refused to comment about Henare’s unbecoming conduct, which effectively makes people lose respect in Parliament. Henare also recently described Trevor Mallard as a “Bitch” in yet another stupid tweet:

 

For some reason Tau Henare thought the Jackal was tweeting on behalf of Trevor Mallard. The Jackal has no affiliation with the Labour Party, Tau Henare is clearly delusional. It’s not the first time Henare and Mallard have had a bit of argy bargy though. On 25 October 2007, Mr Henare had an altercation with Mr Mallard outside Parliament's debating chamber. Wellington accountant Graham McCready launched a private prosecution after police rejected his initial complaint, deeming he was not an interested party in the fracas.

It's understood Tau Henare had made personal comments regarding the Labour MP's marriage breakup and subsequent new relationship. Trevor punched Mr Henare after the baiting about his personal life. But that's not the half of it. On May 12th Mr Henare said that Labour MPs Stuart Nash and Phil Twyford should wipe his arse:

That's just the tip of the iceberg of Henare's abusive tweets. Back in August 2009, Tau Henare resorting to name calling against Local Government Minister Rodney Hide over the ACT leader's threat to quit if Maori seats were included on the Auckland super council. Mr Henare said Mr Hide had "played it silly" and he was a "buffoon" and a "jerk-off.” While the Jackal essentially agrees with this, it is still not acceptable for a Minister of the Crown to act in this way.

Mr Henare was also scathing of Maori Party co-leader and Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples at the time. A lack of professionalism by Tau Henare has driven many to believe He’s an alcoholic and often drinks in Parliament. One Labour Minister said, "If ever there was an advertisement for a zero alcohol intake, that speech from Tau Henare was it." However it could just be plain old stupidity!

 

Taito Philip Field

In October 2005, Taito Philip Field lost his ministerial posts following controversies around allegations that he had improperly used his influence as an MP to receive material gain. Police launched an investigation into claims that Field had benefited from helping people with immigration applications. On 14 February 2007, Field was formally expelled from the Parliamentary Labour Party. To forestall moves to expel him from the Labour Party, Field resigned on 16 February 2007. Mr Field then returned to Parliament as an independent.

He had promised to support the Labour Government's legislative programme; However, on 21 February, he voted against the Labour Party on Green MP Sue Bradford's Members' Bill to amend Section 59 of the Crimes Act 1961. On 24 May 2007, police announced that they would seek the leave of the High Court to lay corruption charges against Field. The offence, corruption and bribery of a Member of Parliament, carries a maximum sentence of 7 years' imprisonment. If Field was convicted while still a member, his Parliamentary seat would have been vacated.

At a press conference following the police announcement, Field asserted his innocence of the charges and expressed his intention to fight both the laying of the charges at the leave hearing, and any charges that might result from the police application. On 5 October 2007 the High Court ruled that the Police could lay corruption charges against Field. The Thai tiler at the centre of the corruption allegations, Sunan Siriwan, announced he would sue Field for $200,000 compensation for the year's work he undertook on Field's property in Samoa.

Field appeared in court on 26 November 2007 on 15 counts of bribery and 25 of attempting to pervert the course of justice, and was released on bail without entering a plea. After a depositions hearing in mid 2008, he was remanded to the High Court for trial on 40 charges. On 20 April 2009, his trial commenced on 35 charges, 12 for corruption and bribery as a member of Parliament and 23 for willfully perverting the course of justice.

On 4 August 2009, Field was found guilty of 26 charges at the High Court in Auckland. The ten-member jury found Field guilty of 11 of the 12 bribery and corruption charges, and 15 of 23 charges relating to attempting to pervert the course of justice. On 6 October 2009, Field was jailed for six years on corruption charges, with the sentencing judge saying his offending threatened the foundation of democracy and justice. An appeal failed in November 2010.

Phil Heatley

Phil Heatley announced his resignation from his portfolios on 25 February 2010, citing further problems with his ministerial credit card spending. Mr Heatley said his decision to quit came after he had looked closely at his ministerial credit card expenses for the past 18 months. An Official Information Act request by The Dominion Post had shown that Mr Heatley falsely signed a declaration and showed that Mr Heatley had misappropriated funds for his own benefit.

New documents then reveal that officials had repeatedly warned the disgraced Phil Heatley about his ministerial credit card use. He had already fallen foul the previous year by claiming $1000 a week in accommodation expenses after moving into a larger home when he became minister, while renting out his free Ministerial apartment. However John Key believed Heatley had not “intended to deceive” and soon reinstated the fraudulent Heatley.

Labour's Shane Jones put the thumbscrews on the Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture after allegations of New Zealand companies supporting slavery-like conditions on fishing vessels within New Zealand waters. An article had revealed that New Zealand companies are employing foreign commercial fishing boats that pay their workers below the minimum wage, regularly beat them up, utilize slavery to maximise profits and put their workers in dangerous vessels that are not maintained properly.

Questions for oral answer, 5 April 2011

Hon SHANE JONES (Labour) to the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture: Does he still have no major concerns about the way foreign boats were used by New Zealand companies as the Nelson Mail reports he said last year?

Hon PHIL HEATLEY (Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture) : As Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture I have concerns if any vessel, foreign or otherwise, misreports its catch, is not registered, breaches environmental standards, refuses to comply with requirements for observer coverage, or breaches any other obligations under the Fisheries Act.

Hon Shane Jones: Does he believe that foreign crews receiving wages reportedly as low as $238 per month is a major concern; if not, why not?

Hon PHIL HEATLEY: That is a matter for the Minister of Labour, but I am happy to comment. In the dying days of the previous Government, Labour reset the rules on foreign fishing crews’ wages and working conditions, and it seemed to be happy back then. I would be interested if the member could forward information to this Government if things have changed.

Hon Shane Jones: What specific improvements will he be advocating to ensure that foreign crews are adequately recompensed, or does he not care that this activity is besmirching the reputation of a major New Zealand industry?

Hon PHIL HEATLEY: As I said, that is a matter for the Minister of Labour, but it would be fair to say that the previous Government, in its last dying days, looked at fisheries regulations, vessel safety, crew welfare, and work visas. Labour came up with some changes at that time; I do not why it did not use that chance only 3 years ago, if it was so serious about this issue.