Leave it out Trevor

Trevor Mallard seems to be proud of his reputation as Labour's attack dog. He has appeared in court after a fight with a fellow MP. He has attacked public servants, religious groups and American bagmen and even made homophobic interjections against a National Party MP.

With that kind of pedigree, you wouldn't think that the MP for Hutt South could stoop much lower. But this afternoon, he did.

He questioned Housing Minister Nick Smith about state houses. The primary question was innocuous enough. But the reason for his question becomes apparent when Mr Mallard gets down and dirty at around the 2:45 mark; check this out:

There's an unwritten rule in Parliament about attacking the families of MP's. Trevor Mallard didn't just break that rule today; he treated it with utter contempt. And not content with making his point under parliamentary privilege, he has followed up with a media release.

To their credit, a number of Labour Party supporters have expressed their distaste at Mallard's conduct via social media. Political differences can be put to one side when conduct such as this takes place.

Trevor Mallard needs to have a good look at himself and his motivation today in attacking Nick Smith over a family issue. With change about to occur at the top of the Labour tree, it might be the ideal time for some pruning of the lower branches.