Backbench MPs sometimes quietly engage in international diplomacy. One relatively junior MP recently faced off against Russia on behalf of not just NZ, but also Canada, Australia and all of Europe.
When Parliament takes a break, the MPs don't always head home to work in their electorates and constituencies. Sometimes they head off overseas, and not for fun.
They travel with colleagues and even political foes to swap their role as domestic MPs for one on the international stage. These MPs are not the senior cabinet ministers who usually deal with international diplomacy - they are backbenchers from both governing and opposition parties working together to represent New Zealand.
Recently a meeting in Bahrain of the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) included four Kiwi MPs led by Vanushi Walters (Labour - Upper Harbour), and including Scott Simpson (National - Coromandel).
The House talked with them both about what that all means. Before we get to which NZ MP recently took on Russia, some background.
IPU: A United Nations of parliaments
"The IPU is an organisation of parliamentarians from around the globe" says Scott Simpson. "Something like 150 nations are represented, they meet twice a year. So a great opportunity to intermingle with parliamentarians from democracies around the world."
I suggest that while the United Nations gets all the attention as the international assembly of governments, the IPU is the equivalent grouping of parliaments (with delegations often including opposition voices as well).
"Yeah, I think that's a good way to frame it," says Walters, "and in my view, it's a real advantage having a cross-party delegation from all those parties meeting together. But essentially, we do discuss a lot of the issues that presented the UN as well. So things like peace and security, human rights, environmental issues."
Not exactly a beach holiday
There's little time for leisure at these things. The most recent IPU meeting was in Bahrain but Simpson notes that no-one saw much of the country.
"You fly to the destination, get on a bus, go to the hotel, then go from the hotel to the convention centre... hotel to the convention centre... hotel to the convention centre... for about three days, and then back on the bus to the aeroplane and then back home."
Convention centres are possibly worse places to spend time in than airports. "In Bahrain's case, the auditorium was a grand, windowless building. So once you're in the building, you're in the building."
Scott Simpson (centre) at the IPU meeting in Bahrain.
If not a junket, then what?…