John Roughan: Politicians, it's time to grow up

'I don't know whether Russel Norman succeeded in embarrassing China... but he certainly embarrassed me.' Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Norman incident was witnessed by press gallery veteran Barry Soper who told Newstalk ZB the Chinese security guards would not have known the chap with a Tibetan flag was "an elected member of Parliament".

That comment said more than Soper intended.

How could the Chinese have known? There is a good reason they wouldn't expect a member of any country's legislature to be offering a calculated insult at Parliament's door.

Crude mute methods of political expression can be expected of people who have no other means of making their point.

Members of Parliament with all the resources, privileges, speaking opportunities and media recognition that come with their seat, are the last people who need to resort to offensive techniques. I don't know whether Russel Norman succeeded in embarrassing China last week but he certainly embarrassed me.

I am proud the New Zealand political system provides a place for a Green Party. The point of proportional representation was to provide a voice in Parliament for minority views that were previously limited to impotent rage in public places far from power.

Norman's flag signalled the system is failing. That is about all it said; it told us nothing we didn't already know about the dignity China's autocrats demand and the red rag this presents to righteous protest.

It told us nothing about Tibet, a subject I suspect ranks lower in Norman's concerns than his right to protest about it.

But it did tell us we are putting some juvenile characters into Parliament. To Chinese eyes, the scruffy-haired man in the suit would surely not have embarrassed himself and them if multi-party democracy was all it is cracked up to be.

In one sense they would be correct. Our electoral system lacks a certain quality control. It was generous to describe Norman as "an elected member of Parliament". He came in on a party list.

If there is a weakness in MMP to my mind, it is the presence in Parliament of people who have never been individually assessed by a broad spectrum of the population.

They can be chosen by members of a small party, and even become its co-leader, without being capable of winning a respectable vote in an election.

The previous system permitted major parties to choose some fairly uninspiring candidates for their safe seats but they had to choose someone who could at least pass muster in the public eye.

For this, the candidates didn't need to be inspiring. They didn't even need to be the smartest, best-looking or most articulate contender in the room. They needed only to appear normal, sensible, approachable and loyal.

It is easy to sneer at those old Parliaments of average men and (few) women, and easy to celebrate the diversity of types and talents that proportional representation has produced. But those average people would not have done something as senseless as Norman did.

Most of them may have lacked his education but none of them would have been at risk of chanting a slogan as simplistic as "freedom for Tibet".

Common sense would have told them that issues of secession are never cut and dried. China displaced an ancient theocracy 60 years ago and has developed the place. Not even the Dalai Lama wants complete independence.

Common sense is not as common as it sounds. People who can stand up, speak sensibly and survive scrutiny at an election meeting are not thick on the ground.

Mainstream parties develop them by encouraging their keen young activists to help canvass electorates for a few campaigns before they can hope for a candidacy. Small parties cannot offer the same path and quite a few of those awarded list seats by a party could not win a public endorsement if they had to.

That is the reason MMP enthusiasts say it is fairer to minorities. But they overstate the supposed racism, sexism and homophobia of a general electorate. Sensible, reliable, well-presented individuals have proved anyone who measures up on those qualities can win.

I'm sure Chris Finlayson or Maryan Street could win electorates, though whether they wish to face one is a different question. Finlayson evidently does not give personal interviews, which must be a world-first for a front-bench minister.

Before MMP he was content to labour for National largely behind the scenes. Now he is an interesting example of the list system's ability to bring into government people who value privacy above political ambition.

Some list MPs ennoble the legislature, others should count themselves lucky to be there. I don't think they would be letting their supporters down if they respected the public seat they have been given, left protest flags to those without a platform, and grew up.