Andrew Bayly’s resignation after a staffer altercation is another bleak reminder of the most basic workplace standards, writes Madeleine Chapman.
How are we back here again? Despite the global movements around workplace harassment, bullying and common decency, parliament seems to be the last place to get the memo that if in doubt, don’t touch your colleagues. Andrew Bayly, he of the L-on-the-forehead scandal, has resigned as minister of commerce and consumer affairs, and ACC, after an “animated” discussion with a staffer turned physical.
Bayly held a press conference today in a windy field in Pukekohe, with the sounds of a random man positively guffawing audible in the background. He prefaced his resignation announcement with the important context that he has been “impatient to drive change” in his ministerial portfolios. He then outlined how an “animated discussion” with a staffer had resulted in him “placing” his hand on their upper arm. As a result, Bayly had chosen to resign as a minister.
Placing one’s hand on the upper arm of another person is quite literally something only ever done when awkwardly offering comfort and you’re worried that the person’s not a hugger. It’s not certainly not on the list of things I would expect to happen during an “animated discussion”.
Bayly was immediately asked to be more specific. “I touched their upper arm,” he said, demonstrating by putting his right hand out in what looked, to my HR-untrained eye, like a grab. “So it wasn’t a grab?” asked Jason Walls, his finger firmly placed on the pulse. “It was- I held their arm,” Bayly clarified, demonstrating once again an action that looked eerily like a grab.
Bayly isn’t the only one to fail in having a “lively” discussion with staff that doesn’t turn physical. In 2018, Labour minister Meka Whaitiri stood down from her portfolios after an altercation with a staffer. It was later found “probable” that she “grabbed” and left bruises on a press secretary. And plenty of other ministers have been accused of bullying and verbal abuse. It is worth noting that after a damning 2019 review into parliament’s workplace culture, an update in 2023 determined the culture had “improved significantly“.
Evidently not enough because what are we doing here? Surely “don’t touch your colleagues” is a pretty foolproof north star for MPs? In fact, “don’t touch your colleagues” is a pretty foolproof north star for anyone with colleagues. This is not one of those “people in power and the public eye should have higher standards” moments. This is entry-level stuff.
What is perhaps most concerning is how many politicians seem unable to regulate their emotions enough to not get into physical altercations or resort to some form of bullying.
I joked just the other day that it felt like we were back in 2017 with all the men saying the stupidest things. I also joked about The Spinoff’s niche of wagging a finger at people. I’d barely finished the joke and here I am, finger at the ready (but not touching), to ponder whether it’s too much to ask that our elected leaders show the most basic decency when conducting their work. I’m not sure when you, dear reader, last had a disagreement with someone at your work, but I’d guess (read: hope) that you were not at risk of grabbing, holding, touching, placing your hand on them. It may seem like a reasonably small action as far as physical altercations go but anyone who has that urge when “animated” is a constant risk. Bayly may not know this about himself but the prime minister certainly should.
Bayly will likely continue to argue the difference between a “touch”, a “hold” and a “grab” but once you’re having that argument, you’ve already lost.
