Legal expert weighs in on Michael Forbes allegations
crime politics 27 minutes ago
The Prime Minister has ordered a review of vetting processes for parliamentary staff after his Deputy chief press secretary quit following allegations he recorded intimate audio of sessions with sex workers and was in possession of intrusive photos of women. Dozens of photos and footage were found on the staffers phone and some appear to have been recorded in public places and shot through windows at night. The police investigated a complaint in July last year and spoke to Michael Forbes, but said the case was filed because it didnt meet the threshold for criminal prosecution. So what are laws and do they go far enough to protect victims? Senior lecturer in law at AUT Paulette Benton-Greig spoke to Lisa Owen.
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Scoop
4 hours ago
- Scoop
Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer On The Longest Suspension In Parliament
She says the Privileges Committee process is not equipped to deal with the haka issue. Saturday Morning This week, Parliament took the unprecedented step of suspending both Te Pāti Māori leaders – Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi – for 21 days. Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke was suspended for seven days – but had also been punished with a 24-hour suspension on the day over a haka all three had performed in Parliament, against the Treaty Principles Bill, in November. It is against the rules of the House for members to leave their seats during a debate – which all three did. Ngarewa-Packer told Saturday Morning that the 21-day suspension, which was seven times harsher than any previous sanction an MP has faced, was not proportionate. 'I think the backlash from the public, nationally and internationally, validates that,' she said. Previously, the longest suspension for an MP had been three days, given to the former prime minister Robert Muldoon for criticising the speaker in the 1980s. While New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the duration of the suspension would have been lessened if the Te Pāti Māori MPs had apologised, Ngarewa-Packer said that was never requested by the Privileges Committee. 'What we have here is a situation where, and some are calling it Trumpism, we've been a lot more specific – we have an Atlas agenda that has not only crept in, it's stormed in on the shores of Aotearoa and some may not understand what that means, but this is just the extension of the attack on the treaty, on the attack on Indigenous voices. 'We made the point the whole way through when we started to see that they weren't going to be able to meet us halfway on anything, even a quarter of the way, on any of the requests for tikanga experts, for legal experts when we knew the bias of the committee.' Ngarewa-Packer added that the Privileges Committee process was not equipped to deal with the issue. 'We hit a nerve and we can call it a colonial nerve, we can call it institutional nerve… 'I think that this will be looked back on at some stage and say how ridiculous we looked back in 2025.' Ngarewa-Packer also added that the language from Peters during the debate on Thursday was 'all very deliberate' – 'and that's what we're contending with in Aotearoa'. 'Everyone should have a view but don't use the might of legislation and the power to be able to assert your racism and assert your anti-Māori, anti-Treaty agenda.' Peters had taken aim at Waititi on Thursday as 'the one in the cowboy hat' and 'scribbles on his face' in reference to his mataora moko. He said countless haka have taken place in Parliament but only after first consulting the Speaker. 'They told the media they were going to do it, but they didn't tell the Speaker did they?' Peters added that Te Pāti Māori were 'a bunch of extremists' and that 'New Zealand has had enough of them'. 'They don't want democracy, they want anarchy,' he said. 'They don't want one country, they don't want one law, they don't want one people.'


Scoop
4 hours ago
- Scoop
Suspended Te Pāti Māori MPs To Embark On National Tour
Te Pti Mori says it will continue to stand its ground as three MPs begin their record suspensions. , Political Reporter Te Pāti Māori says it will continue to stand its ground as three MPs begin their record suspensions. On Thursday night, Parliament dealt its harshest ever punishment by suspending co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer for 21 days, and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke for seven. The trio were sanctioned for their actions during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill in November. Parliament's privileges committee deemed the haka the MPs performed could have 'intimidated' others. Government parties supported the recommended suspension. Labour agreed they should face some sanction, but disagreed with the length of time the committee had landed on. Speaking to media after their suspension was handed down, the MPs said they planned to use their time away from the House to organise. 'We're going to go home and show that we stood our ground,' Ngarewa-Packer said. The party now has the Regulatory Standards Bill in its sights, and will use its time away to encourage supporters to make submissions against it. Party president John Tamihere told Midday Report the party was feeling 'very chipper' and the co-leaders would embark on a national tour. 'What we've got to do is just get out on our streets, in all our pā up and down the country, activate, organise and that's where we're going now.' Accusing Parliament of being a 'very unhealthy place' for Māori, Tamihere said the MPs would apologise once it was made clear what they would be apologising for. 'If you're saying we should apologise for bringing the tikanga that displays our reo, which is the haka, into the House… see, we're not here to just appear for tourists. We're not here to start a rugby game, you know? 'We are here to display and practice who we are and what we are. We do that 24/7, and we don't do it because somebody says, 'No, when you walk in that Parliament you've got to stop being a Māori,' for goodness sake.' Waititi said there were 'many tools in the tikanga basket' when it came to opposing further legislation. 'It will be deemed, and probably sanctioned, by tipuna who guide us in our wairua, in our ngākau, and the people who guide us outside. They sent us in to be the unapologetic Māori voice. Māori voice means that everything that we have in our kete kōrero will be used.' He said Thursday's debate got 'pretty ugly and sad', referencing Winston Peters' 'scribble' jab at his mataora. 'I would be ashamed,' Waititi said. 'If I was his mokopuna, to look over those clips and to hear him denigrate not only something that was handed down by his ancestors, but also him as a future ancestor the legacy he will leave for his tamariki-mokopuna. I'm saddened by that, but also I feel ashamed that his family have to wear that legacy.' Peters agreed the debate was sad, though for different reasons – telling Morning Report Te Pāti Māori's behaviour was unprecedented and unforgivable. Disappointed by inevitable – former leader Te Ururoa Flavell, Te Pāti Māori co-leader from 2013 to 2018, said he was disappointed at the outcome, but it was inevitable. 'Māori and haka, that is part of who we are and what we do, as an expression of a message. No different to giving a speech in the House and pointing the finger at people. You sort of think, where's the consistency here?' he asked. 'Our people understand the protocols that go with various places. Our marae are run by tikanga and protocols about what you can and can't do. And we also know that there are consequences of actions, both for better or for worse. 'That's never an issue – the issue here is when you line it all up, you'd say that the three MPs were dealt with very, very harshly and unfairly.' Flavell said Parliament had come a long way from the days where MPs could not speak te reo in the House, but even that was hard fought for. He said Parliament allowed waiata and even Christmas carols, despite not being in the rules, but with an acceptance they were in the spirit of the occasion. 'Really, can we get to a point in time to accept that Māori are tangata whenua of this land? Can we not get to a time and have a conversation about actually accepting that kaupapa Māori is okay in this land and in the halls of Parliament, for goodness sake, and to allow it to happen on appropriate occasions?' Flavell said a debate about tikanga in the House was long overdue, but said any debate must run alongside education. 'I hope that we learn from the history and allow the debate to happen, but let's do it fairly, not in the sense of allowing every party to have their vehicle. That will move nothing, it will not move the dial, and we saw that yesterday, but allow actually, a debate to inform. 'Hopefully, the committee that's digging into the whole issue of the Treaty of Waitangi will raise some of those issues. But let's have the debate. Let's allow a discussion on kaupapa Māori within the halls of Parliament, and that, I believe, will go a long way to settle some of these grievances that will not only have come up in the past, but are likely to come up in the future.'

RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
New push in Europe to curb children's social media use
By Raziye Akkoc , AFP Photo: Unsplash / Getty Images From dangerous diet tips to disinformation, cyberbullying to hate speech, the glut of online content harmful to children grows every day. But several European countries have had enough and agree the European Union (EU) should do more to prevent minors' access to social media. The EU already has some of the world's most stringent digital rules to rein in Big Tech, with multiple probes ongoing into how platforms protect children - or fail to do so. Backed by France and Spain, Greece spearheaded a proposal for how the EU should limit children's use of online platforms as a rising body of evidence shows the negative effects of social media on children's mental and physical health. They discussed the plan Friday with EU counterparts in Luxembourg to push the idea of setting an age of digital adulthood across the 27-country bloc, meaning children would not be able to access social media without parental consent. France, Greece and Denmark believe there should be a ban on social media for under-15s, while Spain has suggested a ban for under-16s. Australia has banned social media for under-16s, taking effect later this year, while New Zealand and Norway are considering a similar prohibition. After the day's talks in Luxembourg, it appeared there was no real appetite at this stage for an EU-wide ban on children under a specific age. But Danish Digital Minister Caroline Stage Olsen indicated there would be no let-up. "It's going to be something we're pushing for," she said. Top EU digital official Henna Virkkunen admitted specific age limits would be "challenging" for multiple reasons, including cultural differences in member states and how it would work in practice. But the European Commission, the EU's digital watchdog, still intends to launch an age-verification app next month, insisting it can be done without disclosing personal details. The EU last month published non-binding draft guidelines for platforms to protect minors, to be finalised once a public consultation ends this month, including setting children's accounts to private by default, and making it easier to block and mute users. French Digital Minister Clara Chappaz said it would be "a very big step" if the EU made platforms check the real age of their users, as theoretically required under current regulation. The worry is that children as young as seven or eight can easily create an account on social media platforms despite a minimum age of 13, by giving a false date of birth. "If we all agree as Europeans to say this needs to stop, there needs to be a proper age verification scheme, then it means that children below 13 won't be able to access the platform," Chappaz said. France has led the way in cracking down on platforms, passing a 2023 law requiring them to obtain parental consent for users under the age of 15. But the measure has not received the EU green light it needs to come into force. France also gradually introduced requirements this year for all adult websites to have users confirm their age to prevent children accessing porn - with three major platforms going dark this week in anger over the move. TikTok, also under pressure from the French government, on Sunday banned the "#SkinnyTok" hashtag, part of a trend promoting extreme thinness on the platform. France, Greece and Spain expressed concern about the algorithmic design of digital platforms increasing children's exposure to addictive and harmful content - with the risk of worsening anxiety, depression and self-esteem issues. Their proposal - also supported by Cyprus and Slovenia - blames excessive screen time at a young age for hindering the development of minors' critical and relationship skills. They demand "an EU-wide application that supports parental control mechanisms, allows for proper age verification and limits the use of certain applications by minors". The goal would be for devices such as smartphones to have in-built age verification. The EU is clamping down in other ways as well. It is currently investigating Meta's Facebook and Instagram, and TikTok under its mammoth content moderation law, the Digital Services Act (DSA), fearing the platforms are failing to do enough to prevent children accessing harmful content. And last week, it launched an investigation into four pornographic platforms over suspicions they are failing to stop children accessing adult content. - AFP