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Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Labour MP Tāmati Coffey brings baby to Parliament

NZ Herald
21 Aug, 2019 03:52 AM3 mins to read

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"Lovely to have a baby in the House, and what a beautiful one," tweeted Gareth Hughes. Photo / Twitter

"Lovely to have a baby in the House, and what a beautiful one," tweeted Gareth Hughes. Photo / Twitter

Tāmati Coffey's son was the star of the show in Parliament this morning.

The Waiariki MP brought his baby boy Tūtānekai Smith-Coffey to work with him, and Green party MP Gareth Hughes captured the moment.

"Lovely to have a baby in the House, and what a beautiful one," he tweeted.

Lovely to have a baby in the House, and what a beautiful one @tamaticoffey pic.twitter.com/EP6iP9eQES

— Gareth Hughes (@GarethMP) August 21, 2019

Best thing I've seen today in the House is @SpeakerTrevor feeding @tamaticoffey's son. Bloody cute

— Maria Sherwood (@MariaSherwood2) August 21, 2019
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Coffey and his husband Tim Smith welcomed their son in July, via a surrogate.

"He's here. And he came into this world surrounded by his village," Coffey wrote on Facebook at the time.

"#modernfamilies Mum doing awesome. Dads overwhelmed at the miracle of life."

It's not the first time an MP has brought a baby to Parliament - in 2017 Labour's Willow Jean-Prime brought her 3-month-old baby Heeni with her while the House debated extending paid parental leave.

Paliament's Speaker Trevor Mallard held Heeni in his lap as MPs debated the first reading of the Bill.

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Who needs to see this today? Every single last one of us, that’s who. Here’s a brand new papa holding his new born in our House of Representatives right now 😭❤️ pic.twitter.com/NU00SHfKFT

— Golriz Ghahraman (@golrizghahraman) August 21, 2019

Earlier Prime had breastfed her daughter and said it made a big difference to be able to bring her to debates.

It came after Mallard said he wanted to make Parliament a more family-friendly environment.

🌈👶🏻 He’s here. and he came into this world surrounded by his village. #modernfamilies 👬Mum doing awesome. Dads overwhelmed at the miracle of life.

📺 @SundayTVNZ will tell our story this Sunday night at 730pm. Give it a watch. pic.twitter.com/nRm2YNoBug

— Tāmati Coffey (@tamaticoffey) July 9, 2019

Labour MP and former TV weatherman Coffey made the announcement the pair was expecting at the Big Gay Out in Auckland in February and was met with applause and screams of excitement.

He later told the Rotorua Daily Post that Smith was the biological father of the baby and their surrogate mother was "a friend of a friend".

Discover more

New Zealand

Tāmati Coffey and Tim Smith's family, marriage hopes

11 Feb 04:05 AM
Lifestyle

'Dads overwhelmed': Labour MP Tāmati Coffey and husband welcome baby boy

09 Jul 10:17 PM
Lifestyle

Mallard a natural at babysitting duties

22 Aug 01:18 AM
New Zealand

Labour MP cradles baby while speaking in Parliament

24 Oct 04:06 AM

At the time he said the pair hoped to raise more than one child if they "work out how to do it the first time".

Big announcement at Big Gay Out...Tune in whanau

Posted by Tamati Coffey - Labour MP for Waiariki on Saturday, 9 February 2019

Coffey was an award-winning presenter who left full-time television in 2013 to pursue a career in politics.

In 2014 he was named the Labour Party candidate for the Rotorua electorate at the general election but missed out to National's Todd McClay.

Smith and Coffey announced their engagement in February 2011 and wed in a civil union in December that year.

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