Green MP Elizabeth Kerekere says revelations about Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell’s boarding school bullying highlight the need to address bullying culture in schools and workplaces.
National Party leader Christopher Luxon has suspended Mr Uffindell from caucus and has called in a queens counsel to investigate not only the circumstances of his expulsion from Kings College but also allegations from a former flatmate of aggressive and bullying behaviour.
Dr Kerekere compares it with investigations into abuse in state care.
“It’s easy to write that off and say ‘it happened a long time ago, it doesn’t matter now.’ That ignores the way trauma works. It’s very hard to start healing when the trauma is still happening, so 20 years is not long ago,” she says
Dr Kerekere says surveys of youth consistently show the long term negative impacts of being bullied.
