OPINION: New Zealand's Minister for Small Business Andrew Bayly should have been sacked.
It's poor judgement from Prime Minister Chris Luxon.
Andrew Bayly has clearly failed to uphold the standards required to be a mInister. I doubt John Key would have accepted this - and his Ministers were removed for less.
Luxon has backed the wrong man. Bayly acted like a boofhead, not a leader of small businesses.
On a recent visit to a small business, Bayly told a worker to:
Go on, go home and take some wine and f*ck off.
"Go on, go home," he added, ridiculing him by making the 'L' sign for 'loser'.
You can see the complaint detailing the incident below.
Bayly has apologised and Luxon says it's not good enough, but won't sack Bayly.
Luxon looks weak. He's read it wrong.
The worker says he was humiliated, made to feel small and it was embarrassing.
Sadly, this is what you call serious punching down - a Minister takes the mickey out of a worker.
Already the public are wondering if Luxon is out of touch with ordinary Kiwi workers - and this helps confirm it.
If this blows back up due to something else like fresh evidence of wrongdoing, Bayly will be banished, but Luxon is relying on nothing else emerging.
It helped Bayly that this came out late Friday - everyone had checked out. It also helps that he's unknown and no one pays him much interest or takes him that seriously.
There are only as few real power brokers in the Cabinet and Bayly is not one of them. Hence it would have been easier for Luxon to say not good enough and promote someone who deserves it.
Melissa Lee gone - Andrew Bayly stays - why?
Bayly doesn't deserve to be paid $300k a year to represent the Government and hold the small business portfolio.
Small businesses make up 80 percent of our economy - they are full of ordinary people, who work night and day
Bayly behaved like a right tosser and appeared deeply out of touch. He might wish to grab some wine and f*ck off home himself, because surely he's just proven he's not up to being a Minister of anything.
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