ACT leader David Seymour blasts Trevor Mallard over trespass notice related to Parliament protest, calls for him to resign

ACT leader David Seymour has blasted Trevor Mallard for trespassing people who visited the protest at Parliament and called for him to resign. 

It comes after the Speaker of the House was forced to backtrack on trespass notices for NZ First leader Winston Peters and others, due to the threat of legal action. 

A statement from Mallard on Wednesday afternoon didn't specify which individuals this affected, but former Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters confirmed the trespass order issued to him has been withdrawn.

Peters visited the parliamentary protest one day in February for a walk-about. Matt King, a former National MP who spoke at the occupation, was also trespassed.

Seymour told AM Early on Thursday the way Mallard has acted has been childish and said it's time for him to stand down.

"It's time for him to move on. I just look at what these people in Ukraine are fighting for to have democracy," he told AM Early host Bernadine Oliver-Kerby. 

"We've got one and the way Trevor Mallard is treating ours is just not good enough. I think it would be gracious of him to go."  

Seymour said Mallard should've looked at previous court cases to show the trespass notices wouldn't have stuck. 

"There have been many court cases over the years mainly coming out of a student protest in 1997 that Chris Hipkins was actually protesting at," Seymour said. 

"The result of those court cases is that you can't just trespass people from Parliament for two reasons. One they have to be individually warned they are trespassing and two it may be a restriction on their right to freedom and expression that is disproportionate or unjustified. 

"If Trevor Mallard had actually looked at the court case .... he would've known these trespasses wouldn't stick but he's put his foot in it again."  

ACT Leader David Seymour.
ACT Leader David Seymour. Photo credit: AM

Seymour said it's been a "distracting week" talking about Mallard instead of things that matter and "sadly that is becoming emblematic of this Government". 

"To trespass, someone for just expressing a view or walking around, receiving and parting information is a breach of their Bill of Rights," Seymour explained. 

"It's not clear why they were trespassed, but again it's just sloppy work and perhaps egotistical overreach by the Speaker, which could've been very expensive for the taxpayer if they had gone through, now he has been forced to back down, was it the Prime Minister who knows but it's good common sense has prevailed."

Peters has also called on Mallard to go, telling Newshub at 8pm on Tuesday he should face a vote of no confidence.

"It is an outrageous insult that Mallard, in the role of Speaker of the House, would hold this view of myself and my former parliamentary colleagues. This is evidence of how out of control and power-drunk he has now become," the New Zealand First leader said.

Watch the full interview with David Seymour above.