By DPA
Wellington : New Zealand cabinet minister Trevor Mallard was fined $375 (500 New Zealand dollars) Tuesday after admitting in parliament that he punched an opposition legislator during a fight in a public place.
Mallard, 53, appeared in the Wellington District Court on a private prosecution brought by a voter after the police refused to charge him following his apology to Tau Henare of the conservative National Party who said he did not want to take the matter further.
Wellington accountant Graham McCready initially brought a charge of assault against Mallard, who pleaded not guilty when he first appeared in court earlier this month.
But after lengthy discussions between lawyers and the judge Tuesday, McCready agreed to reduce it to the less serious charge of fighting in a public place and Mallard pleaded guilty to that.
“There was no doubt I was involved in a fight and there’s a big difference between that and an assault,” Mallard told Radio New Zealand. “I was involved in a fight and it was appropriate to plead guilty to that.”
Judge Peter Butler convicted Mallard and ordered him to pay a fine in the form of a 500 New Zealand dollar donation to the Salvation Army.
The charge follows a fracas in the corridors of parliament Oct 25 after Henare made a comment in the House of Representatives about the private life of Mallard, who had just separated from his wife.
Mallard later formally apologised in parliament and Prime Minister Helen Clark reprimanded him by demoting him from number six in the cabinet list to 11 and taking away the rugby-playing politician’s portfolio as minister for sport.