David Parker: long-serving Labour MP reveals why he's departing from Parliament

Long-serving Labour MP David Parker has confirmed he's departing from Parliament. 

Parker has been an MP for 23 years - holding portfolios in trade, revenue, energy, and transport.

He says it was important that he ended his career on a positive note.

"You're never finished in this job - but it felt the right time, and I'd just sort of reset Labour Party policy around foreign affairs."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bread now David Parker speaking of Laboring peace. David Parker,
who's a stalward of the party after twenty three years
in parliament, is out. He's announced it today. Got in
two thousand and two, said as Attorney General, Associate Finance
Deputy leader. In twenty fourteen, of course ran for the leadership.
David park is with me now, Hi, David, Hi, good

(00:21):
to have you on. What's the what's prompted the decision?
Why now?

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Oh, look, you never finished in this job, but it
felt the right time. I've just sort of reset Labor
Party policy around foreign affairs. You seen me parroenting on,
rabbiting on about that recently, and it's good to go
out on a positive note rather than stay till you're
not wanted. Actually it was partly I'd been over season.
I came back with jet lag. If you get up

(00:47):
at fourth ety am to leave the house at five
to catch you nearly plane, and I thought, God, fifty
years ago I did a miok run getting up at
five am every morning in nineteen seventy five, and it
felt a bit n't fear to be doing it years later.
So lots of.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Reasons, nothing to do with the tax you didn't get that.
I know, I know you wanted.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
No. No, I know I wouldn't put it down to that,
especially one of the reasons I stayed to push those
things along. Interestingly, you know, I remember you covering that
on TV three when that report came out showing that,
you know, wealthy people in New Zealand pay between a
half and a third of the rate of text of
people who earned their income through their Layloran salary. And
you sent it off to Thomas Piketty and Paris and

(01:33):
he's that guy that wrote Capital in the twenty first
century and blow me down. He replied to you and said,
gat work.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
We actually very nearly had because I know you were
a big fan of his. We actually very nearly had
him on the show, you know, to talk to you,
but it just didn't quite work out. He was a
busy man, unfortunately. David, do you we're looking back, what
is your you know, give us your highlight, your lowlight?
Who were you know? What was your best moment? Well?

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Look, I had three threads to my policy. One as
a galitarian prosperous economic economic outcomes. I was an entrepreneur
before as a MP, and on that front, I think
some of the work that I did to stimulate venture
capital as good. Some of the work I did as
a revenue ministers also helped push the economy towards productive outcomes.

(02:22):
On the environmental front, I did the administrating scheme, which
is the pricing mechanism which encourages the economy to move
to lower emissions. That that's been a successful and important
and important thing, and I sat there with ninety renewable
electricity target on the On the civil liberties front, I

(02:43):
did both what's called the halfway House under the Bill
of Rights to give Parliament a route to fixing mistakes
that are noticed by the courts as to put legislation
breaching civil liberties.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
At the same time, hey David, because we are running
out time and we don't have time for all of
your achievements. Although I do acknowledge there have been many,
was there was what was the hardest time in Parliament?

Speaker 2 (03:06):
I actually, you know, you suffer some dirty politics at times.
There were clips taken of me that had me saying
I hate farmers, which wasn't true. It's a misrepresentation of
what I said. I was followed around by private investigators
hired by the Exclusive brethren under the Hell and Clark government.
So and my partner at the time had to put
up with, you know, shared to put up with possums

(03:29):
being chapter dead, possums being chapped across the fence. So
I think the things that affect you worse of the
things that are taken out on your families, even though
they shouldn't be well.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
Enjoy the Sleeping David. It's been great to have you
on the show. Appreciate your time.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
Thanks, thanks very much. See you David.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
Parker, who's the outgoing labor and been in there since
two thousand and two. For more from Hither Duplassy Allen Drive,
listen live to news talks it'd be from four pm weekdays,
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