Valedictory speech season has begun, and if there's a common theme cropping up already, it's a plea for a less toxic style of politics in Parliament.
Valedictory speech season has begun at Parliament, and if there's a common theme cropping up already, it's a plea for a less toxic style of politics in the place.
MPs on the way out, giving their final statement in the chamber, have less reason to hold back about their real feelings. Yet you might be surprised to find that their real feelings - in terms of relations with MPs on the other side - are actually quite warm.
Three departing Labour MPs who all entered Parliament in 2017 gave their valedictories last night. Their thoughts turned to the adversarial nature of the political system and the media news cycle that feeds off it.
Marja Lubeck said Parliament could work better if there were fewer de-humanizing forces at play. Speaking about her work with the rainbow community, against discrimination, and towards a ban on conversion practices among other efforts to protect young people, she decried the lack of airtime given to "positive" stories about the work of MPs.
"There are a lot of people in this place who care and are working hard to make things better. They often give until there's nothing left in the tank to give, and that is the story we're telling. But in the era of social media, clickbait, and the 40-minute news cycle; trolling and rampant misinformation, it feels, at times, that it's not the good stories that make the headlines.
"I wish politicians and media could stop their focus on catching people out with perceived or real slip-ups-or 10-year-old tweets for that matter. Feeling powerless witnessing the take-down of some of my colleagues over the years has been the source of my greatest frustration."
Lubeck admitted Parliament is an adversarial environment and that she had done her fair share of heckling.
"Jason Walls (political reporter with Newstalk ZB), you called it: I spoke my mind, because you know what they say: 'many people are too polite to be honest, while the Dutch are too honest to be polite.' But as one of my colleagues said, 'politicians are not prey'. And that is how it feels to me at times, preying on the imperfections. We are not robots; we are humans, good people, doing our best-often to the detriment of our personal lives. If we could just make the political and media culture less toxic, I think we'd make a lot more progress."
Before he finished his valedictory, the Rongotai MP Paul Eagle said he had one wish for Parliament: "to urge our future parliamentarians to rise above petty politics"…