THE New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has confirmed the appointment of outgoing Speaker of the New Zealand parliament Trevor Mallard as the next Ambassador to Ireland.
“The people of Aotearoa New Zealand and Ireland enjoy warm and close links,” she said, “Our two countries have extensive family, cultural, historical and, of course, sporting connections that ground our strong friendship,” Nanaia Mahuta said.
“As New Zealand’s second resident Ambassador to Ireland since the opening of our Embassy in Dublin in 2018, I am delighted that the strong relationship between our countries will continue to be in excellent hands with the appointment of Mr Mallard,” Nanaia Mahuta said.
Mallard has been Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives since 2017 and a Member of Parliament for 35 years. Over that time he has held 13 ministerial portfolios.
Mr Mallard is expected to take up his role in January 2023. But there have been misgivings about his appointment. Mallard is seen by some as a divisive figure, and his tenure as Speaker, especially since the majority Labour Government was sworn in 2020, has attracted criticism.
Looming large in that criticism is that he needlessly cost the NZ taxpayers $333,000 to settle a false rape allegation. In late January 2020, Mallard was sued by a parliamen tary staff member who alleged that the Speaker had defamed him by claiming that a rapist was working at Parliament. The member took legal action, and the case was settled with the taxpayers having to foot the bill.
At the time, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern criticised Mallard’s actions as “totally inappropriate” but rejected calls by the National and ACT parties to dismiss him from his position as Speaker. He is seen as a longtime ally of Ardern’s.
Another incident which caused disquiet was in February when he turned sprinklers on those protesting against the Covid-19 vaccination mandates outside New Zealand’s parliament. He also subjected protestors to loud music in a vain attempt to scatter them. According to the respected New Zealand political website Stuff, he has “a proclivity to be a grump” – an obvious drawback in an ambassador.
The website adds: “He also, as has been well reported over the years – has a tendency to see red and can be both belligerent and churlish at times. He is a scrapper and there is something in his nature that makes him prone to outbursts and fighting back if he feels under pressure.”
