National Party leader Christopher Luxon is standing by his MP for Tauranga, but says the assault of a smaller boy at boarding school should have been made public.
Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
MP for Tauranga Sam Uffindell has admitted he assaulted a younger student while at Kings College boarding school in Auckland. He was asked to leave the school the following day, at the end of his fifth form year.
Fronting the media at Parliament this morning, Luxon said he had been unaware of Uffindell's assault on the boy until yesterday.
"He has my backing and he has my support but clearly he needs to be able to build back trust with the voters in Tauranga, and make sure that he is ... demonstrating as we go into the next election - that he's a person of good character."
He said Uffindell had declared the details of the incident when he sought the candidacy, and there had been a thorough process including seeking comment from third-party references, but a few of things should have happened that did not.
"The assessment was 'hey listen, no, Sam is a changed individual from the 16-year-old we saw 22 years ago ... so that I think did work well, because at least the discussion was had, there was deep exploration of the issue.
"The thing that could have been different, frankly, is that I should have been informed rather than finding out yesterday, the second thing is the delegates ultimately should have been informed.
"Most importantly I think the voters in Tauranga should have been informed so they can form their own judgement and should have had that information in the campaign."
The selection process for National's candidates included an initial screening with reference checking, then a selection panel, Luxon said.
"All those people were fully aware as they weigh up a series of candidates and they can choose to let them go through or not go through and there was deep exploration of this issue with Sam."
After that, the selection went to 60 delegates who were party members, who each candidate spent time with.
Uffindell said he did not recall whether there was a discussion with the party about whether the incident should have been disclosed during the campaign.
"In hindsight you know we probably should have been clearer and frontfooted that. Ultimately we didn't and, you know, we are where we are today.
"I fulfilled all my obligations to the party in that I declared it. I was very open in preselection about what I had to declare and gave a full written and verbal statement on this issue."
He had a conversation with the preselection committee about the incident, he said, and then-Party President Peter Goodfellow would have been aware of it.
National's MP for Tauranga Todd McClay said he was on the selection panel, information about the incident was provided to them by the board, and the matter was taken very seriously.
"The panel questioned Sam for some length of time on this and all aspects of it and we then considered it separately and came to the conclusion that it was an incident that he took seriously that happened 22 years previously, when he was 16 years of age, and he had worked very very hard to be a better person since then."
McClay was asked why, as an experienced MP, he had not advised Uffindell to make the incident public.
"During the campaign we were very very focused on the various things that were coming up. And look, in conversation with him it was something that he was regretful for, that he had owned, he had apologised to somebody that that person saw as private.
He said he was not responsible for a failure to inform Luxon.
"It's not my role as a campaign chair to talk directly to the leader about things that has happened in that selection process. It then goes back to the party and becomes their responsibility."
Uffindell said he did not feel let down by the National Party.
"They appreciated that openness and they ultimately saw that I was remorseful, genuinely remorseful, and that I was a significantly different person from that 16-year-old."
"The onus was on me to disclose it at pre-selection, which I did ... it was for the party to determine what to do from there. I agree we could have been more forthcoming during the by-election campaign."
He said the revelations had been damaging to him personally and to the party, but he wanted to use his position to do good.
Having made a speech on law and order and violence as his maiden speech at Parliament, he said it was not a great look and did not help the cause.
"It doesn't help my cause in that regard, but we do still have issues around that that need to be dealt with and I'll continue to advocate for them.
"I can definitely empathise as someone who has been young and made big mistakes that giving people a second chance is very important. Now, what we talked about moreso in the Tauranga campaign is related to gangs, and these are adults who are part of criminal organisations. But as far as young people are concerned you need to invest in them, you can't throw them away.
"I've said to my wife and my parents - my mum especially - I don't like that person that I was back then."
Asked if he felt he came to Parliament dishonestly, Uffindell said he could appreciate voters should have been able to get to know the candidates, warts and all.
Luxon said Uffindell was genuinely remorseful and regretful and had fronted up on the matter.
"He's fronting and he's owning that. And I expect him to do that."
"There is no place for violence in New Zealand - no setting, no context, no excuses - and we abhor it and we don't condone it whatsoever."
