Cheap jibes in House bring tweet revenge

Catherine Delahunty. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

Politicians are on notice - if they throw personal insults around the House, they will be publicly exposed.

Green Party MP Catherine Delahunty has been "tweeting" - posting on the site Twitter - whenever offensive comments fly across the House.

"It's an experiment to remind politicians to argue issues, not people. I just reached the end of my tether watching people making personal abusive comments in the House."

Insults including "fat" and "stupid" have no place in Parliament, she says; nor do comments that are racist, sexist or discriminatory in other ways such as hair colour or sexual orientation.

"There was a comment around someone's disability, where an MP called another MP a name based on their disability, and that was the end for me. The whole country can be listening in, including people with disabilities listening to that mockery."

The minor parties signed up to a voluntary code of conduct in the House a few years ago, but National and Labour refused.

Ms Delahunty is not expecting that to change, but feels more awareness might improve behaviour in Parliament, which is often watched by schoolchildren.

"I look at the children in the public gallery, and if you look at their faces, it tells a good story about how politicians' behaviour is being received."

Ms Delahunty admits she has to apply her own standard of what is acceptable.

An MP saying "Why do you hate children?" to Labour MP Charles Chauvel or calling National MP Nikki Kaye a "Barbie doll" is over the top.

But the Greens being called "communists" or "crazies", a favourite pastime of Act MP David Garrett, is not her idea of an insult.

"A 'bunch of crazies' - to me that's not so offensive - but if you said, 'Have you taken your medication?' that's really offensive," she said.

Many MPs have been the target of this jibe, including Cabinet minister Nick Smith, who has previously taken stress leave, and Auckland-based Phil Twyford (Labour), when he gets fired up in the House.

Of the 263 people following Ms Delahunty's Twitter feed, only a handful are MPs.

But Ms Delahunty said many MPs were aware of her Housewatch experiment. "I wouldn't say the Greens would always be perfect either, because we're in an atmosphere of adversarial abuse and people get caught up in it.

"If I say something [offensive] then I'm going to have to tweet myself. I might call myself a communist. Or a Greenie."

Housewatch:

* June 22: Chris Finlayson says Jim Anderton is in his dotage.

* June 23: Finlayson describes a Trevor Mallard comment as a "psychotic" outburst.

* June 30: Both Labour and National front benches call each other stupid, which is not so much offensive as deeply dull.

* July 1: Moana Mackey says David Carter will get a nosebleed because he has done two hours' work today.