Why should Andrew Bayly get a pass?
Come in with the Big L sign plastered on your face
Make fun of the worker doing his pace.
Who am I?
I’m a big shot, don’t you know?
Bow before my greatness
And alcohol smell
The Honorable Andrew Bayley - Minister for Commerce, Minister for Statistics, and Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing - told a Kiwi factory worker to "f*** off" and repeatedly called him a loser, making an 'L' with his fingers on his forehead.
Here is the account:
“Take a bottle of wine and go home, go on, go home ... take some wine and f... off.”
“.. He called me a ”loser“ repeatedly, saying the reason I was still at work was because I am a ”loser“.
“He turned to the group of people with him at the time, including my boss, the minister’s assistant and marketing staff, and ... employees and formed an ‘L’ with his fingers on his forehead.
“He then continued to call me a ”loser“ over and over, clearly trying to amuse the group at my expense,” they wrote.
In his interview with Checkpoint yesterday, Bayly stressed that he was entirely sorry, but also repeatedly denied the account -
Q: “Did you tell him to “F-off?”
“I don’t believe I used that word at all”
Q: “Did you call him a loser several times?”
“I don’t want to go through what he set out in this letter”
Q: “Are you denying he said it?”
“No, I’m not denying it ….[but..]”
Interviewer Lisa Owen suggests to the Minister being sorry includes taking responsibility for his actions:
“Minister, Part of making amends is owning what you did wrong.”
It was to no avail of course.
PM Luxon has said he is disappointed but Bayly has his confidence.
