Climate activists dramatically interrupted the last day of Parliament unveiling full-length banners above MPs protesting against a lack of action, particularly around agriculture.
It came amid a raucous Question Time, the last of this Parliamentary term ahead of the October 14 election, with MPs at times shouting over each other and Speaker Adrian Rurawhe having to intervene.
It was also followed by an adjournment debate, as MPs wrapped up the 53rd Parliament.
Earlier, four protesters interrupted a question to Climate Change Minister James Shaw unveiling the large pink banners reading: “Too many cows. Climate Action Now”.
Speaker Adrian Rurawhe asked the protesters to leave and they were removed by Parliamentary security.
The protesters, all associated with environmental non-governmental organisation Greenpeace, have been trespassed from Parliament grounds for two years.
They follow similar actions across the globe and here in New Zealand to raise concerns about the climate crisis and political responses.
Speaking outside Parliament, protester Rowan Brooks said they had chosen the final day of the Parliamentary term to advocate for a “climate election”, with a focus on regulating industrial dairy and use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser.
Agricultural emissions make up about half of New Zealand’s entire greenhouse gas emissions.
“We need a climate election to regulate the industrial dairy industry.”
Brooks said they had done petitions and other “creative actions” but progress had been “too little, too slowly”.
He said they had not coordinated with any MPs, and the timing of the speech - during a question to Climate Change Minister and Green Party co-leader James Shaw - was not a dig at any one politician. The executive director of Greenpeace Aotearoa is Russell Norman, former co-leader of the Greens.
“I think the Green Party has done what they can in their position. I’d love to see more leadership from labour. I’d love to see more leadership from National. We need our major political parties to be committing to regulating our worst polluter, which is industrial dairy.”
He said rather than focusing on producing milk powder, the industry could be transformed “into an ecologically grounded, diverse food system, where a whole range of crops are grown in ways which are climate resilient, which create more food that farmers are happier growing, that restore the health of rivers that bring back wildlife”.
Brooks said they had snuck the banners into the public gallery under their clothes and waited for the right moment.
Earlier, Parliament got off to a raucous start for the final Question Time of the 53rd Parliament.
National leader Christopher Luxon took to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins with a series of questions challenging the Government on its record over the past three years, citing statistics around health, education and crime.
“Does he regret that despite the Government spending $60 billion more than six years ago, he’s left the country with a shrinking economy, more crime, worse health, worse education, more job seekers, higher rents, higher prices, higher interest rates, and a record number of Kiwis saying this country is going in the wrong direction?” Luxon asked in one of his questions.
Hipkins, backed up by his faithful MPs - Megan Woods and Peeni Henare particularly vocal, fired back as good as it was given claiming that in many cases Labour had been making up for cuts by the previous National Government.
He also included a few jabs at deputy leader Nicola Willis, who some commentators have tipped as a future leader of her party.
“The most surprising thing about that question was that Nicola Willis’ lips didn’t move while he was asking it,” he responded to one of the questions, evoking howls of laughter from Labour MPs.
There were also humorous moments, including when Labour MP Arena Williams asked the question of Police Minister Ginny Andersen: “Does she stand by her statement, ‘It is my view that New Zealanders feel safer’; if so, why?”
The question was a direct reference to the same question previously asked of Andersen by National’s police spokesman Mark Mitchell 16 times.
Speaker Adrian Rurawhe quickly intervened, however, shutting the question line down as out of order and giving supplementary questions to Mitchell.
In a lengthy question, Mitchell asked Andersen what she thought Kiwis would think of her “having a laugh” given the state of crime.
“I absolutely do not think that crime is funny, but what I do think is that that member’s performance during question time in this House since May has been a joke,” responded Andersen.
Another question, by Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, also sought to lighten the mood.
Waititi, having only just returned after a suspension, alluded to the state of relations with Act leader David Seymour - seated next to him - when he asked the Prime Minister: “Is the Prime Minister happy, as David Seymour is, to see me back in the House today; if not, why not?”
Seymour didn’t see the funny side, however, calling a point of order and adding it was a “disgrace” Waititi was absent to hear his suspension.
Hipkins saw the lighter side. “Everybody knows that I’m a naturally happy person and I particularly welcome the member back to the House and I’m looking forward to his waiata after his contribution later on,” he said.
During the adjournment debate, politicians took the opportunity to thank their staff and outline policy, as well as making a few political digs.
Hipkins said Labour’s time in Government could be summarised by the motto; “expect the unexpected”.
“A cascade of unprecedented events have defined the last six years for this Government and for this Parliament.”
He referenced the Covid-19 pandemic, the Christchurch and Auckland terror attacks, the Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle in how his Government had been “forged in fire”.
Luxon paid tribute to Speaker Adrian Rurawhe, joking that he hoped Rurawhe could have a good break and that he would not have to speak to Simeon Brown, an MP who often gets into trouble in the House, if he did not want to.
Luxon slammed Labour’s “excessive government spending”.
“No one inside or outside this place now understands what Chris Hipkins stands for aside from his desperation to be reelected,” Luxon said.
Luxon poked fun at his own mishap this week when he was ambushed by a Freedoms New Zealand candidate while giving a press conference and used the anecdote to attack Hipkins over his rift with former revenue minister David Parker.
“At one of my press conferences earlier this week I was interrupted by someone who didn’t agree with our policies. I’ll just say the last time this happened to Chris Hipkins it was in fact the Revenue Minister David Parker,” Luxon said.
Green Party co-leader James Shaw, who made his speech directly after Act leader David Seymour, took his opportunity to take the mickey out of his political opponent, calling him the leader of the “New New Zealand First” - a reference to the division between Seymour and Winston Peters.
“Mr Seymour must be feeling quite grumpy right now, because last term he worked so hard to get rid of Winston Peters so that this term he could become Winston Peters, and now Winston Peters is calling and he wants his Horcrux back because that blackened shard of a soul can only animate the body of one populist authoritarian at once.”
He took aim at National’s proposed policies addressing climate change and urged people to consider progress on reducing emissions when voting in the election.
“The decisions that will be made in the next term of Parliament must build on the foundations that we have laid for an Aotearoa where everyone has what they need to live with dignity within the boundaries of the planet, and that is what is on the ballot paper this year.”
Seymour used the back end of his speech to claim voters needed more than just a change from Labour to National.
“Because [as] much as I love my colleagues on the National Party, they have never demonstrated an ability to change Labour’s policies. In fact, this election, they can’t even change the name of the Prime Minister.
“That’s why you need the Act Party to put up real ideas, to cut Government waste, to make sure that the balance between rights for victims and consequences for criminals is restored, and to make sure that we are reunited in a modern, multi-ethnic, liberal democratic state.”
Waititi used his speech to outline the goals of Te Pāti Māori, alluding to some of the heightened debate around co-governance and what was to come.
“We are on the cusp of an Aotearoa where our tamariki are truly free to thrive in their authentic selves.
“No more will we allow anybody to treat us like second-class citizens on our own whenua.
“No more will we allow the entitled and privileged to decide what is best for us. No more will we allow white supremacy and white privilege to reign supreme on our whenua.”
But in his typical style he didn’t shy away from humour, referencing Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s speech where he made a “Goldilocks” metaphor.
“I just wanted to say, as I heard the story about Goldilocks—Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Baby Bear—I tell you, it’s been very difficult to sit next to a polar bear [pointing to Seymour’s seat] and a gummy bear [pointing to Luxon], and it’s been quite hard to contain the grizzly bear in me.”
The Resources Minister came to the select committee sporting a Make NZ Great Again hat.