Peter MacDonald
Trevor Mallard has always been a duck out of water. His mishandling of the 2022 parliament protest revealed a Speaker utterly unsuited to the task of leadership in crisis. Faced with thousands of New Zealanders camped on parliament’s lawn in defiance of Covid mandates, Mallard chose gimmick over dialogue. Sprinklers were turned on at night to soak people in their sleep and Barry Manilow, Celine Dion, and “Baby Shark” were blasted at them in an attempt to wear down morale.
It backfired spectacularly. Protesters mocked the music, danced in the mud, dug up sprinklers and laid straw across the sodden grounds. Police distanced themselves from Mallard’s antics, while crisis negotiators publicly warned that such tactics were outdated and counterproductive. Instead of restoring order, the speaker inflamed tensions and made himself the punchline.
Then came the trespass notices, including one to Winston Peters, who had simply turned up to hear the protesters grievances. The notices were later withdrawn as ‘unreasonable and irrational’. Mallard had overplayed his hand and was forced to retreat. A duck out of water indeed.
Yet, instead of consequences, he was rewarded. Jacinda Ardern’s Government handed him the cushy role of ambassador to Ireland, a posting for which he had no training or experience. It was less a service to the nation than a golden parachute for a loyal ally. Mallard’s lack of diplomacy, already evident in Wellington, was now exported abroad.
This week the wheel turned. Winston Peters, the very man Mallard whom once tried to trespass, announced his recall. With his trademark wit, Peters declared, “Carnival’s over”. He also made the deeper point: politicians with no diplomatic training and experience should never be parachuted into ambassadorial roles.
For those who stood in the mud and rain on parliament’s lawn in 2022, the story comes full circle. The man who tried to humiliate them and even Winston Peters himself has been humbled. Justice has been served by the very person Mallard once sought to take down. As Jesus said, “for whatever one sows, that will he also reap”. Mallard’s sprinklers, blaring music and political manoeuvres may have seemed clever at the time, but karma, patience and principled leadership have a way of catching up.
The lesson is simple: leadership is not sprinklers and sound systems. It is listening, engaging and respecting those who dissent. Mallard failed that test.
Peters’ recall closes the chapter with a certain irony. The speaker who soaked and quacked at protesters is now heading back to New Zealand with his feathers ruffled and his wings clipped.
