The decision to trespass Winston Peters from Parliament earlier this year has resulted in taxpayers having to fork out more than $23,000 in legal fees.
Legal action launched by Peters led to the Speaker's office last month apologising to the former deputy Prime Minister over the decision to ban him from Parliament's grounds. The trespass notice was issued while Trevor Mallard was Speaker, but the apology came a day after he had stepped down from the role.
An answer to a Written Parliamentary Question to the Speaker has now revealed the cost to taxpayers in legal fees is $23,585.45. This was spent on various attendances, correspondence, reviewing documents and preparing legal documents.
Chris Bishop, National's shadow Leader of the House, said it was "yet another insult to taxpayers" from Mallard.
"[It] comes on top of the $330,000 cost he incurred for falsely accusing a parliamentary staff member of rape," Bishop said. "His attempts to trespass former MPs was an appalling error of judgement which taxpayers are now paying the price for."
Peters and six other "persons of interest", including other former MPs, were issued trespass notices in May after they attended the protest at Parliament earlier this year. The New Zealand First leader, who was only briefly at the occupation, was furious with the notice.
Mallard said he delegated authority to parliamentary security to make decisions over trespass notices, but the Prime Minister said the decision was ultimately one for the Speaker.
A day later, Mallard said in a press release that five trespass notices had been withdrawn "as the persons are now thought unlikely to seriously offend or incite others to commit serious offences".
Peters took offence at that statement as he suggested it implied those who had formerly been trespassed "were originally considered likely to 'seriously offend or incite others to' and to be a 'risk to the safety and security of Parliament'".
In August, following Peters' legal action in the High Court, the Speaker's office released a statement saying the Speaker had apologised for the trespass notice, while also retracting and apologising for comments in his press release. It said the decision to trespass had been "unreasonable and irrational".
The statement was released a day after Mallard stepped down as Speaker and Adrian Rurawhe took on the position.
Peters welcomed the apology, saying he went to court "not for myself, but on behalf of the people of New Zealand to make a stand and fight for our fundamental freedoms, rights, and to protect our democracy".
Mallard will take on the role of New Zealand's Ambassador to Ireland next year, an appointment that has ruffled feathers within Parliament.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern first announced Mallard's intention to retire while making a Cabinet reshuffle back in June.
"After the 2020 election Trevor told me he wanted to transition out of the role of Speaker over the course of this term to allow someone else the opportunity and to take on new challenges himself," Ardern said.
"He has worked closely with Adrian for that purpose. He will leave the chair in mid-August and take up a post in Europe from early 2023. Trevor will be the third of our five most recent Speakers to represent New Zealand abroad in a diplomatic posting."
She said in August she was confident Mallard was the appropriate pick for the ambassador role.
"Trevor Mallard has had a more than 30-year career in politics. You don't spend that amount of time in this place without having a huge depth of understanding about New Zealand's priorities."
The former Speaker was often offside with the Opposition, which criticised his use of sprinklers and loud music during the protest. Mallard also faced scrutiny for comments he made about a parliamentary staffer.
A 1News poll in June found just 17 percent of people approved of Mallard's handling of his job as Speaker, almost half disapproved, and the rest didn't know.
