Jan Logie admits she had "zero faith in our political system" before entering Parliament, but remains hopeful of what can be achieved here, as she prepares to retire as MP.
For an MP who admits to having had "zero faith in our political system" before she entered Parliament, Jan Logie is remarkably optimistic about this place.
The Green MP, who is set to retire as a Member of Parliament after four terms, has been a warm and energetic presence in the House, refusing to indulge in the politics of personal attacks. Logie is hopeful about what Parliament can achieve when people work as a collective, but admits she won't miss the bullshit.
In the past 12 years, the Green MP has been a leading advocate for addressing gender based violence, including in her role as Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Justice in the previous term of Parliament. She has also campaigned and won gains in the areas of paid parental leave and improving the welfare system, and has performed the role of musterer (party whip) in the Greens while holding a busy handful of portfolios for the party, including major contributions in the disability portfolio to accessibility legislation and housing.
Having been MP for two terms under a National government and then two terms under a Labour government - Logie's in a good position to gauge how much parliamentary politics has changed.
"Like on some levels, it's changed in really good ways, I think. Our Parliament is more diverse, and less of a white boys/old boys club than when I first came in. My first year in Parliament, I was really shocked at how old fashioned this place was, to an extent where, a National minister could get everybody in Parliament standing up and clapping the Miss New Zealand contestants, and making a kind of lewd joke about having spent time with them in his office, and everybody laughing. I cannot imagine that happening now. And that is a good thing."
Her work as an MP continued the work Logie did previously as an activist and with Women's Refuge - supporting communities who were voiceless, and protecting society's vulnerable. In her maiden speech in Parliament, Logie warned about a rise of individualism and called for an increased focus on family, community, and shared endeavour.
"I've regularly reflected on that as I've stayed in here and now when I'm leaving. I was focused on trying to have a sense of our shared responsibility and connection to each other and the environment. Because I don't believe individualism and a sense of pretending that we're not part of nature has served us."…