Veteran Labour MP Ross Robertson bowed out of national politics last night, but not before suggesting a unique remedy to stop MPs behaving badly in Parliament.
Having served as Assistant Speaker for four terms, he said behaviour in the House - along with the quality of debate - would improve
if every MP had to chair Parliament, if only for a day.
"I have been privileged to hear some great speeches, but I have also listened to a lot of rubbish," the Manukau East MP said in his farewell speech - which brought the curtain down on his 27-year parliamentary career.
Noting that in the past 10 years two former MPs had gone to jail for things they had done while in Parliament and other MPs had been the subject of adverse reports about their use of allowances, Mr Robertson made yet another plea for the House to adopt an MPs' code of ethics.
He said Parliament had legislated a code of conduct for local body politicians. "How arrogant of us to claim that we alone do not need a code of ethics."
