The Speaker of New Zealand’s Parliament is getting praised from across the world after he took on the role of a babysitter while presiding over the House. Photos of him feeding a legislator’s baby while carrying out his duties went on viral. But it certainly points towards the new workplace culture which is rising above the protocols and is setting new trends of parenting and politics going hand in hand
KRC TIMES Desk
The Labour MP for Waiariki, who joined back after a paternity leave brought his little munchkin at the House of Representative. Little Tutanekai Smith Coffey was found being cradled and fed by the Speaker of New Zealand. The speaker tweeted, “Normally the Speaker’s chair is only used by Presiding Officers but today a VIP took the chair with me.”
During the session, while Coffey was busy with the debate on fuel prices, Mallard, who is a father of three, gladly took on the role of a babysitter while continuing his work as the Speaker. Coffey said that he felt supported by his colleagues across the house.
About a dozen of MPs have had infants in Parliaments. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern last year became New Zealand’s first premier to have taken maternity leave and the second elected leader to give birth in office. Prime Minister Ardern had also taken her little daughter to her debut speech at the United Nations in New York last year.
The British MP Jo Swinson also made headlines after she became the first MP to take her baby into the House of Commons and had said she hopes it will signal a step forward in modernising parliament. Australian Senator Larissa Waters who breastfed in parliament during a debate in 2017, also made history.
Mallard hoped more employers in New Zealand would follow his lead.
“What I’ve found is that it adds to the positive atmosphere of the workplace,” he said, adding that he regularly encountered babies in the halls of power and even the indoor parliamentary swimming pool.
