By AUDREY YOUNG
The Greens want Parliament's dress code relaxed so that men have the same freedom that women MPs have.
Men have to wear long, smart trousers, a jacket and tie. Women are expected to dress smartly.
Green co-leader Rod Donald, who usually sports a set of colourful braces under his
jacket, has secured a first step on his road to relaxed parliamentary attire.
The Speaker, Jonathan Hunt, had agreed at this stage to survey male MPs about relaxing the jacket rule - but keeping ties on.
"I work much better with an open-neck shirt and my sleeves rolled up," said Mr Donald. "I would like to have more freedom to express myself effectively." The rules discriminated against men, he said.
"Women can wear T-shirts and a jacket in the House but men can't. Women can wear T-shirts and braces and men can't. It raises questions about gender equity.
"It stems from the days when the women were up in the gallery doing their tatting and the men were debating the issues of the nation.
"At the end of the day, it is up to the member's sense of personal responsibility. We're all consenting adults. We should be capable of determining what is appropriate.
"I wouldn't go so far as Ruth Richardson's pink tracksuit," he said, referring to the former Finance Minister's regular running attire.
But Winston Peters, noted for his sartorial credentials, said he didn't think that leather jackets and cardigans were what New Zealanders expected to see when they came to Parliament.
He had observed relaxed dress standards among men in the Danish Parliament. "They looked like Brown's cows."
Act leader Richard Prebble said Parliament was the highest court in the land and should maintain its business-like dress code. "The Act Party is never in favour of lowering standards."
National whip Gerry Brownlee did not think Mr Donald would gain support in his caucus.
"I think the place starts to look untidy. Some of the women MPs don't look tidy in Parliament." Asked what constituted untidy, he said he was not prepared to become a David Hartnell.
