John MacDonald: Cowboy hats and feathers? Yes. Bad behaviour? No

I can’t accuse NZ First MP Shane Jones of being pale, male, and stale. But he is male, and he is stale with these comments of his about the way some MPs are dressing in Parliament. I do agree with him, though, that some of the rules in Parliament need toughening up.   

This has all been stirred-up after the MPs did their haka in Parliament last week.  

Shane Jones and ACT leader David Seymour are saying that the rules governing how things are supposed to run in the House aren't up to scratch.  

I was reading that the toughest personal penalty that an MP can face for playing up in the debating chamber is $1,000. Which is chicken feed when you consider the salaries MPs are on.  

So MPs on Parliament’s Standing Orders Committee are going to look into it and see if they can come up with some stiffer penalties for MPs who break the rules.  

Officially, these rules are known as Standing Orders and it is the Standing Orders Committee which is responsible for reviewing and considering the rules that govern how the House operates.  

So Shane Jones is happy about that. He’s also happy to let the Standing Orders Committee decide what changes might be needed. But he also reckons they need to get tough on dress standards, as well, in Parliament.  

He thinks the way some MPs dress, they look like "scarecrows".    

But I’m not upset about cowboy hats and feathers in Parliament. That’s because Parliament is, after all, the House of Representatives. Meaning the politicians in that House are supposed to be representative of us.  

And, if you’re somewhere right now where there are other people, take a look around. Is everyone dressed the same? Of course they’re not. Are all the guys in suits and ties? I bet they aren’t. And are all the women wearing smart business suits? I bet they’re not, either.  

Whether we like it or not, dress standards generally have changed. You might say they’ve gone backwards. I wouldn’t describe it that way.   

The point I’m making is that Parliament needs to reflect the real world. And the real world includes people dressing in cowboy hats. And feathers too, at times.  

But where I am with Shane Jones and Christopher Luxon, though, is the need to ensure that the rules that determine how Parliament is run and what is expected of MPs and the consequences for breaking those rules need toughening up.  

Reason being that there would not be any other workplace in the country where aggressive behaviour would be tolerated.  

And I’m not being anti-haka here, but what happened in Parliament last week was aggressive. The All Blacks’ haka is aggressive, and the haka in Parliament on Thursday was aggressive. Just like Julie-Anne Genter was aggressive when she went nuts at Matt Doocey in the House earlier this year.  

And that’s where the rules —or, at least, the punishments for breaking the rules— need a good look at.  

Because, just like people wearing cowboy hats and feathers is part of the real world, we should also be seeing our Parliament run in a way that gives MPs the same protections that all workers in this country expect when it comes to not being treated aggressively and being respected. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Morning's Podcast with John McDonald
from newstalk ZEDB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
I can't accuse New Zealand First MP Shane Jones of
being pale, mail and stale, but he is male and
he is certainly stale. With these comments of us today
about the way some MPs are dressing in Parliament. I
do agree with him though, that some of the rules
in Parliament need toughening up. Now this has all been

(00:35):
stirred up after those MPs did the haka in Parliament
last week. It was Thursday, wasn't it? Over the trendy
Principals Bill and Shane Jones also Act Leader David Seymour.
They're saying that the rules governing how things are supposed
to run in the House aren't up to scratch. Prime
Minister agrees it needs to look at as well. I

(00:55):
was reading this morning, happy this. I was reading this
morning that the toughest personal penalty that an MP can
face for playing up in the debating chamber is a
thousand bucks, which is chicken feed, isn't it? And you
consider the salaries that MPs are on, So what's going
to happen MPs on parliament Standing Orders Committee are going

(01:16):
to look into it and see if they can come
up with some stiffer penalties for mpre MPs who break
the rules, and whether the rules need changing, et cetera,
et cetera. Officially, these are known as standing orders. These
are the rules standing orders, and it's the Standing Orders
Committee which is responsible for reviewing and considering the rules

(01:37):
that govern how the House operates. So Shane Jones is
happy about that. I'm happy about that. Shane Jones is
also happy to let the Standing Orders Committee decide what
changes might be needed. He's not going to make any
demands on that front. But he also reckons they need
to get tough on dress standards as well in Parliament.

(01:58):
Here's a little bit of what he said to Mike
a couple of hours ago.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
Let's trust in the judgment of these of the senior
MPs that are on these standing orders. They are able
of coming up with new rules and new laws that
have a genuinely deterring, deterrent like effect upon them. But
look at the people you're talking to. I really want it.
Very rarely ever comes to Parliament. It's hard to recognize

(02:23):
them under that lrmless hat a cowboy hat, by the way,
which he wears. Debbie comes festooned with feathers and sort
of Scapo like accoutrements and how can you take that serious?

Speaker 2 (02:33):
Now? Prime Minister Christoph Luxandi he was nowhere near as
colorful as Shane Jones when he spoke to Mike about this,
But he thinks some changes are needed too to keep
politicians in line.

Speaker 4 (02:43):
There's got to be respect for some rules because otherwise
a democracy, you know, you've got to be able to
have the proper conversations in a parliament without it just degenerating.
And you know, fisty cuffs ultimately is what you see
in some other parliaments around the world, and you know,
we just don't need any of that. We just need
to say, look, it's a good time for us to
review it. We've got a new generation of politicians in
the Parliament.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
But we equally people have to respect the rule is
even to go at the young ones there, the youngies.
Christoph Luckson, he didn't seem to be too fust about
dress standards or he is a real certain tie kind
of guy, isn't he. Christopher Lucksen certainly in parliament anyway,
So I imagine he would be a fan of things
getting a bit stiffer in that department as well. But

(03:24):
like I say, I'm not upset about cowboy hats in Parliament.
I'm not upset again. I don't give two herds about
feathers in Parliament. The reason for that is that Parliament is,
after all, the House of Representatives, meaning the politicians in
that house. They're supposed to be representative of us, aren't they.
And if you're somewhere right now where there are other people,

(03:46):
have look around, right, have a look around? Is everyone
dressed the same? Of course they're not. Are all the guys.
If there are guys where you are right now, are
they all on certain ties? But they aren't. And women
look around. If there are women there, are they all
wearing smart business suits? I bet they're not either. And

(04:06):
whether we like it or not, dress standards generally have changed.
Now you might say they've gone backwards. I wouldn't say that,
although I do sometimes think that people get a bit
casual on it sometimes when they're kind of things like
weddings and funerals, But that's just me. The point I'm
making is that Parliament needs to reflect the real world.

(04:28):
And the real world includes people dressing in cowboy hats,
and the real world includes people dressing and feathers as
well sometimes. But where I am with Shane Jones, and
where I am with Christoph Luxen, and where I am
with David Seymour is their belief that there is a
need to ensure that the rules that determine how Parliament

(04:49):
is run and what is expected of MP's and the
consequences for breaking those rules. I agree that they do
need toughting up.

Speaker 3 (04:57):
Now.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
The reason for that, or my reason for that, is
that there would not be any other workplace in the country.
I'll bet you whatever, there would not be any other
workplace in the country where aggressive behavior is tolerated. And
I'm not being anti Harker here, but what happened in
Parliament last week was aggressive. The all black still and

(05:19):
the Harker that's aggressive, And the harker in Parliament on
Thursday was aggressive, just like Julie and Jena the Green
MP remember this when she was all aggressive and went
nuts at Matt Doosey in the House earlier this year.
And as far as I'm concerned, that's where the rules,
or at the very least the punishments for breaking the
rules need a damn good look at, because you know,

(05:41):
just like people wearing cowboy hats and feeds, this as
part of the real world and something we should be
seeing in our parliament, we should also be seen in
our parliament. We should see it run and away. That
gives MPs the same protections that all workers in this
country expect when it comes to not being treated aggressively
and being respected. So I don't have any problem with

(06:02):
the dress standards in Parliament, but I do think the
rules that our MP's need to operate by in the
debating chamber especially, they need a good look at, and
I reckon MPs should be taken to task just like
anyone else would for being aggressive and threatening in the workplace.

Speaker 1 (06:19):
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