'Off you go': Bishop 'embarrassed' after being told to leave House for first time
Senior National MP Chris Bishop has been told to leave the House, the first time in his 12-year political career, the minister says.
The moment came as Labour’s finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds questioned Finance Minister Nicola Willis, including over whether any partial privatisation of KiwiBank may be considered an asset sale.
That follows comments from the minister on Tuesday after National promised to not campaign on asset sales at the election.
Edmonds took issue with a response from Willis and stood to raise this with the Speaker. She began by saying: “I know it’s a very difficult time for some members on the other side of the House and we are close to an election.”
As she spoke, Bishop interjected. During points of order, politicians are meant to stay silent.
This caught the attention of Speaker Gerry Brownlee, who said “someone is talking and could leave the House right now”.
He initially appeared to believe it had been National MP Simeon Brown, who sits beside Bishop. Then Brownlee thought it may have been National’s Paul Goldsmith, who sits one chair down. Goldsmith was putting his hand up, seemingly wanting to be picked on.
Others noted it had been Bishop, who also conceded he had been speaking.
“Okay, thank you for the honesty, off you go. Sorry, I can’t warn all the time and nothing happen. Mr Bishop is leaving the House, volunteering to.”
Bishop said afterwards it was the “first time in 12 years” he had been booted and he felt “embarrassed”.
“I dobbed myself in. I did what you’re not meant to do, which is I said something while the question was being asked. You’re not meant to do it.”
He said he asked Edmonds “how’s your fiscal plan going”. Labour is yet to publish its fiscal plan for the election but plans to after the release of the Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Update (Prefu) in two weeks.
Bishop said he was “astonished”.
“People think it would have happened in my first year, but I managed to make it 12 years before I got booted.”
Despite the rules, it’s common for interjections during questions or points of order. Bishop said the Speaker was “taking a particularly strict line at the moment”, noting some of his colleagues had been kicked out yesterday.
Brownlee has previously commented that while the election campaign is yet to begin in proper, it had begun in the House with greater tension and debate across the aisle.
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