National's Sam Uffindell Plots To Steal Labour's Policy
Uffindell calls Ingrid Leary "cunning" for caring about the elderly and from the leaked footage, it appears National is only driven by self interest
Partially paywalled -
TLDR
Uffindell is captured in a leaked recording plotting to steal Labour MP for Taieri’s Members’ Bill to help seniors and their families obtain funds back from retirement villages. How did we get here?
And it’s tiresome, as Elliot outlines:
Sam Uffindell is no stranger to controversy.
Two years ago, as National’s newest MP1, he was outed as having taken part in the violent nighttime bashing of a 13 year old child and fellow student at the prestigious King’s College in Auckland.
Uffindell, dubbed by some as “the bed leg basher” was 16 at the time, and said he was now a reformed man.
Regretful, apologetic, he said.
Luxon unequivocally stood by Uffindell - a pattern we would see more and more as time drew on.
i.e. Standing by his MPs and government Ministers irrespective of content.
Examples:
Andrew Bayly publicly berated a NZ ex-service man and winery worker for working late and called him a “f*cking loser” but Luxon defends him
Andrew Bayly physically “grabbed” a reportedly young female Parliamentarian (National then paid tribute to Bayly in Parliament after he resigned)
David Seymour lied to Parliament and the country about not knowing he wasn’t allowed to drive up Parliament steps for his Land Rover stunt2
Erica Stanford used her private, non-transparent email to talk to lobbyists/donors and send confidential Government documents
Erica Stanford called female opposition MPs “stupid bitch”
Winston Peters threatened journalists and told RNZ he would cut their funding for asking him questions3
NZ First taunted Green MPs with racist, xenophobic comments
You get the picture.
For Uffindell though, as more allegations came out - i.e. he’s an aggressive “bully” who would physically intimidate others, trash property after excessive alcohol use, partake in sordid rituals claiming female underwear as “trophies”, and abuse female flatmates as “fatty” and force them to flee from a window - he was finally stood down temporarily and Luxon called for an “independent investigation”.
Independent investigations is another pattern we would see used by Luxon’s Coalition to damaging effect for the country -
Supposedly independent people aligned to National are paid large sums to recommend National’s pre-defined outcomes.
Or in the case of Sunny Kashaul, paid hundreds of thousands for old recycled ideas previously offered to Labour for free, and rejected by Labour as too dangerous
National’s “independent”, internal investigation “cleared” Uffindell - but Luxon refused to release the report.
Fast forward to the present, and Uffindell, the reformed, regretful bully is showing who he is again.
In March, he put foward a private members’ bill ostensibly for the old Seymour chestnut of “equal rights” but in practice, challenging Tauranga Council for consulting with, and upholding, Māori and iwi on critical issues.
Hobson’s Pledge immediately celebrated Uffindell as a hero.
As did the Atlas Network Taxpayers Union…