Speaker Gerry Brownlee says he’s learned a lot from being Parliament’s neutral man after 27 years as a partisan politician, as he oversaw some of the most intense moments in the house’s recent history.
Brownlee, who holds the third-highest office in the country behind the Governor-General and Prime Minister, has overseen two years marked by tensions between parties and the Speaker, unprecedented suspensions, and the deaths of two MPs.
The Speaker was in Canberra earlier this week, where he was welcomed to the Australian Parliament floor — the first visiting Speaker in 21 years.
“To associate with countries with similar democracies is extremely important,” Brownlee said, adding he didn’t think there was a “huge” difference between the two nations’ debating styles within Parliament.
Brownlee said while he didn’t agree with a dictatorial approach to being Parliament’s referee, it was important to follow strong rules.
His tenure as Speaker had been marked by a number of key moments, including cultural clashes over the role of haka in the debating chamber.
“The current tension is between the requirements of the Westminster system and the desire for quite a number across Parliament to represent this country culturally,” Brownlee said.
“If there is a request made for waiata or haka, that can often be accommodated, but just the decision to impose that on the whole of the house, particularly during the middle of a procedure, is not acceptable. There has to be mutual respect.”
He added: “We are not Britain. We are a South Pacific nation. We are increasingly looking at how we identify ourselves that way, predominantly through Māori culture.”
On other standards over which he governed, Brownlee said consideration was being given to publishing MPs’ attendance records, which were not currently publicly available.
“Expenditure is already published on a three-monthly basis and consideration is being given to publishing attendance,” he said.
On the challenges of the role, Brownlee said he had learnt a lot from switching from frontline partisan politics to a neutral role.
“It’s very hard after 27 years as a partisan politician suddenly becoming Parliament’s neutral man. You actually learn a lot. All of a sudden stuff that you didn’t realise too much before, because you were too busy doing the work of either an MP or a minister.”
For the full story by Q+A’s Whena Owen, watch the video above
Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand On Air
