New Zealand junior education minister quits after bullying claim

New Zealand’s junior Education Minister stepped down from his Cabinet posts today after students accused the former teacher of bullying them in the classroom.

David Benson-Pope denied the allegation but agreed to stand down while senior law officials carried out an independent inquiry, Prime Minister Helen Clark said in a statement.

Two former students told TV3 News that when he was a high school teacher in the southern city of Dunedin, Benson-Pope had stuffed a tennis ball in a student’s mouth – then taped the boy’s hands to the desk for a half hour so he couldn’t remove the ball.

The alleged victim, Phil Weaver, said he was being punished for talking in class.

Benson-Pope, who has been a lawmaker since 1999 and was a teacher for more than 20 years prior to that, was not immediately available or comment.

He was promoted to Clark’s Cabinet last year as Minister of Fisheries and Associate Minister of Education.

Questioned about the allegations last week in Parliament, he told opposition lawmakers: “That is a disgraceful allegation and I refute it completely.”

Other students made written statements to TV3 saying Benson-Pope had hit a student on the nose, causing it to bleed, and another said he had bled after being hit on the buttocks with a cane.

Before the report aired, Clark told reporters that Benson-Pope had been the victim of a smear campaign at the start of “a rather desperate election campaign”.

Opposition parties trail her government in opinion polls. A general election is due by late September.