If it does feel likethat, it’s because the sentiment is partly true. After Tinetti’s referral in May 2023 came Act’s Simon Court in June, Labour’s Michael Wood in July, and National’s Tim van de Molen in August.
Nine MPs, more than half of all the members of Parliament sent to the privileges committee in the MMP era, were referred in 2023 and 2024, according to figures from the Parliamentary Library.
MPs tend to be referred to the privileges committee if a Speaker believes they may have breached the rules of Parliament, breaching privilege. The privileges committee doesn’t always agree. Michael Wood was partly exonerated by the committee in 2023 after he was referred over declaring his Auckland Airport shares (the report found he should have done a better job of declaring them, but stated the rules were unclear so his transgression did not amount to contempt).
In total, 16 MPs have found themselves sent to the privileges committee in the MMP era. Some Parliaments appear naughtier than others. The current Parliament has had five referrals to the committee, most of which relate to the recent Parliament haka.
The last Parliament had four MPs referred. It might have been five, but the fifth incident, involving an alleged suppression breach by Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, resulted in Waititi briefly being suspended without being referred to the committee, over fears Waititi appearing before the committee would worsen the alleged breach. Instead, the matter of suppression in general was considered.
Had Waititi been referred to the committee, it would have given him the dubious honour of having been sent to the committee twice in two years. Another MP in the chamber has been referred twice – no prize for guessing who: it’s NZ First leader Winston Peters.
Peters was referred in 1997 after being accused of assaulting fellow MP John Banks. The committee eventually backed the accusation, but decided it didn’t amount to contempt.
The Parliamentary Library data shows there were vastly fewer referrals in earlier Parliaments. Seven Parliaments have sent MPs to the committee, while four have managed to go all three years without sending anyone.
Long-time MP Peter Dunne, who served on the committee during the Owen Glenn scandal, told the Herald there were several reasons for the uptick in referrals. He believed this year’s data was skewed by the mass referral after the haka over the controversial Treaty Principles bill.
Dunne reckoned one reason for the number of referrals was that MPs are now generally “less aware of and [less] sympathetic to the Standing Orders”.
The Standing Orders are the rules that govern Parliament.
“They don’t see the need to comply with the Standing Orders,” he said.
Dunne believed another reason might be that Speakers were increasingly leaning on the committee when it came to maintaining order in the House, rather than doing it themselves.
Former MP Peter Dunne reckons Speakers are using the privileges committee to get buy-in on discipline.
A referral to the committee means MPs from across the House decide an MP’s fate, recommending an outcome to the whole House, which makes it official. Other punishments can be delivered by a Speaker alone.
Dunne believed the committee was a good way for a Speaker to get buy-in from across the House when it came to difficult cases of discipline.
“I think that is an astute move by Speakers,” he said.
“It puts the pressure on MPs to make the right decisions in terms of what they find at the privileges committee.”
Dunne said one of the main problems for any Speaker had always been “enforcing good conduct in the House”.
“They can only do it really with the consent of the House as a whole,” he said.
“The problem the Speaker’s got is they can only really act with the support of the majority ... So it seems to me that what’s happening now is [Speakers are] using the privileges committee as a sort of a vehicle.
“The Speaker is saying: ‘Well, okay, Parliament, this is your problem.’”
This story has been corrected to state that Winston Peters was referred to the Privileges Committee after being accused of assaulting fellow MP John Banks. An earlier version incorrectly stated the referral had been over an accusation Peters had punched Banks.
Thomas Coughlan is deputy political editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and in the press gallery since 2018.
