MPs To Review Parliament's Rules After Land Rover Stunt

Thursday, 13 February 2025, 8:40 pm
Article: RNZ

Anneke Smith, Political reporter

MPs are going to take another look at Parliament's rules, after ACT leader David Seymour drove a land rover up the steps outside.

Seymour drove an old truck up several steps on Monday for charity before a security guard intervened and told him the speaker had said "no".

The ACT leader told the guard he "didn't know that" but footage captured by 1News has since showed the truck owner telling him twice.

Seymour was quick to write to the speaker of the House and apologise, but Labour has been pushing for Gerry Brownlee to reprimand him.

Speaking about this on Thursday, Brownlee said Labour's Tangi Utikere had written to him, asking if Seymour had been in contempt of the House.

"The many email correspondents have encouraged me to take a range of actions, none of which are permissible.

"I suggest they accept that standing orders don't currently anticipate responses to this situation. This was the case in 2003 and it hasn't changed since then."

Brownlee said the courts said the 2003 prosecution of Taranaki MP Shane Ardern for disorderly behaviour, after he drove a tractor up Parliament's steps, had been a waste of time.

"If standing orders are to be broadened to give the speaker wider authority over MPs' activities that are not connected with the proceedings of Parliament, then it should be the standing orders committee that fixes or first examines those possibilities and considers any implications from those changes that might enable some of what has been requested."

Brownlee said the standing orders committee would convene during the sitting week of 3-7 March to consider the land rover stunt.

"In my opinion, it's not possible to prescribe broad enough orders that achieve both protection of privilege and prosecution of stupid.

"This may be something that the standing orders committee is more able to clearly define."

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