Winston Peters claims Parliament in ‘state of decay’, takes issue with Te Pāti Māori MP Takuta Ferris

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has claimed Parliament is in a “state of decay”, taking issue with what he believes is a sharp decline in standards.

Peters and his colleague Shane Jones were irked by a speech by Te Pāti Māori MP Takuta Ferris. They took issue with Ferris both using a laptop while delivering his general debate remarks and with the MP allegedly suggesting some in the House are “masters” of lying.

The speech led to a series of fiery exchanges, with Speaker Gerry Brownlee at one point saying Ferris was not keeping with the “tikanga” of the House.

In his speech, Ferris was critical of the direction the Government was stewarding New Zealand. He took particular issue with its approach to constitutional matters. Te Pāti Māori has opposed the Government’s Treaty Principles Bill proposal and other policies relating to Māori.

“It is clear to see there is a significant knowledge and capacity gap in this Government when it comes to issues of a constitutional nature,” Ferris said.

He said this was also true of some of Parliament’s MPs and staff.

“This House seems allergic to constitutional discussion or debate. Unless, of course, they are defining the terms of engagement themselves with no regard to the history or evidence.”

Ferris went on to say such a knowledge gap was a “dangerous thing”.

“It allows lies to be presented as truths. Politicians call this obfuscation. The art of making something unclear, intentionally vague, ambiguous, to conceal or obscure the truth, to confuse others. Lies in other words. Many in this House are masters of it and it is disservice to those who voted you into your positions.”

Peters stood up with a point of order at this point, suggesting it was “not acceptable” for MPs to accuse others of being “liars”.

Before he could finish, he was interrupted, leading him to firmly say: “Keep quiet I am making a point of order”.

“He made the allegation that Members of this Parliament are liars and he should have been stopped in his tracks right then,” Peters told the Speaker.

Brownlee said he hadn’t picked up on that, but advised Ferris that if he had said that, he should withdraw and apologise.

“I would also make it very clear to the Member that reading speeches is not part of the tikanga of the House either.”

Takuta Ferris. Photo / RNZ

Ferris had been reading his speech off a laptop in front of him.

The MP stood and said he hadn’t made the statement Peters had accused him of. Brownlee said a transcript of what had been said would be later reviewed.

Ferris continued giving his speech while reading from his laptop. Jones raised that again with the Speaker.

Jones said: “If a Member is incapable of giving a five-minute speech without relying on a computer or written notes, that is grossly inconsistent with every tradition I have seen observed in this House since the time I have arrived, right back to the days of Parekura Horomia.”

He urged Brownlee to set down if that was the standard of Parliament or “are we going to have a different standard because it is from a minority party who believe they are full of piety.”

The Speaker said he would come back to Jones on that point.

Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, a Te Pāti Māori MP who entered Parliament with Ferris after last year’s election, said she had found using written notes as a new MP helpful.

Brownlee said there was nothing wrong with using notes, but “setting up a screen in front of you and reading from it is not part of the deal”.

Later, Peters gave a speech bemoaning a drop in standards, including Ferris using a laptop.

“The very idea of oratory and getting up and being able to speak off the cuff never occurs to him as he says he has got a better Māori quantum than the rest of us. This is arrogance of the worst sort and he did it today. Can’t make a speech without a laptop.”

He suggested other MPs – namely those from Te Pāti Māori and the Greens - read a May column by former Labour minister Steve Maharey in the NZ Herald, in which he said there was a need for rules in Parliament.

Peters said: “What we have got here is people walking in, t-shirts, sneakers, bare feet, lack of respect of the House, lack of respect for the country, and utter contempt”.

He said the standards of the House had declined over the previous years and Parliament was on a “slippery slope of endangering and losing further what used to be in this Parliament”.

“I have never seen this Parliament in such a state of decay. I wasn’t here at the beginning of it, but I have been here for a bit of the time. I have never seen it in such a bad state,” the politician, first elected in 1979, said.

While Peters’ remarks were mainly focused on Ferris, he also took issue with an interjection from Labour’s Helen White and a previous question from Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick.

Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub Press Gallery office.