The Speaker of the House of Representatives has apologised for a trespass notice issued to former Deputy Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Winston Peters.

The Speaker has also retracted and apologised for comments which related to Mr Peters in a 4 May press release.

The Speaker has admitted to the High Court at Wellington that the exercise of power under section 26(2) of the Parliamentary Service Act 2000 to issue Mr Peters a warning under section 4 of the Trespass Act 1980 was unreasonable and irrational.

He has further admitted to the High Court that issuing the warning was an unjustified limitation on Mr Peters’ right to freedom of movement under section 18 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, and that Mr Peters had not acted in any way which justified him being issued with the warning.

The High Court’s decision is pending.

Note :

The notice referred to was issued while Rt Hon Trevor Mallard was Speaker of the House of Representatives. He resigned on 24 August 2022.

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