Quagmires at every step

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters and MP Shane Jones had a lot to say yesterday about an “underhanded, vicious, uncalled for” comment by National Party deputy leader Paula Bennett earlier in the day, in bringing the marriage of mud-flinging, ousted MP Jamie-Lee Ross into the political sphere.

Jones described marriage discussions in politics as a “quagmire” . . . one that he jumped right into in the next breath.

To most ears Bennett was clarifying a claim by Ross himself on Tuesday that had already done that, when he said National’s leader Simon Bridges had alleged sexual harassment claims against him by four women — and that if he wanted natural justice 15 women could be found — as the reason he had taken leave from Parliament last month for health reasons.

Ross denied any wrongdoing then, couched in terms of behaviour around women at Parliament, but he has a lot of explaining to do after the allegations aired today by Newsroom journalist Melanie Reid, who has been talking to people for a year now about his behaviour.

It appears that Ross was on extremely thin ice when he told reporters yesterday about his moral compass, that he was happy with how he had conducted his personal life, and warned against anyone in politics trying to “lift the bedsheets”. These comments prompted four women to tell their stories now, of a manipulative, bullying narcissist, to set the record straight.

For National and Bridges it will be a great relief that they have done so, but the damage wrought by Ross is huge.

Bridges has as much explaining to do with the Chinese and Indian communities as he does with his own MPs, who he has been caught out deriding. There is also the possibility of continuing revelations from secret recordings, although it is likely Ross played his “best hand” yesterday, and he has image and credibility concerns of his own now.

There is also still a potential police investigation into electoral financing fraud. If there is one it should perhaps extend to New Zealand First and the deputy prime minister, who blustered when asked yesterday if he or the party had split up donations.