Fifty minutes into the interview, Bennett asked Mau to ask her “anything” herself, in the spirit of the podcast’s name.
Mau harked back to the 2010s, when she was a journalist questioning Bennett in her capacity as an MP. At the time, Mau had prompted Bennett over whether she thought Parliament was a sexist place, which Bennett originally said she didn’t.
“Has your view changed since then?” Mau asked Bennett in her podcast.
In response, Bennett said while there were “definite bullies” in Parliament, the impact of the toxic behaviour was felt by everyone in the House, making its scope “wider” than gender-specific issues.
Bennett, pictured in July 2024, described Parliament as a “cesspit of bullying and nastiness”. Photo / Mark Mitchell
“I just saw some of the men hurting in some of the language as well,” Bennett told Mau.
“I was fat-shamed on almost a daily basis. But then with all respect – he wouldn’t mind me saying, ‘cause we’re friends – but so [was] Grant Robertson.”
Bennett went on to say after “giving a lot of thought to it”, she could “sense the change” in how this behaviour unfolded and was treated in Parliament as she wrapped up her final political term.
“I think that [Dame Jacinda] Ardern actually brought in more change than anyone. So thank you to her for that.”
However, Bennett admitted she still viewed the institution as a “seething pit of bullying”, with Mau drawing agreement from Bennett after she compared her experiences to that of a “school playground”.
“When you went in there, some of the older school ... if they thought you might be successful [and] ... quite good at what you do, they literally just needled, looking for your weakness.”
Acknowledging the behaviour “came from all sides”, Bennett was left uncomfortable by the way MPs would interact with others in the House, citing a colleague whose “language to others was just absolutely demeaning and cruel”.
“I would just sit there and just say, ‘I’m not part of this’,” Bennett told Mau.
“I think that’s where my head was at at that point. It was kind of like, ‘I think this whole place is just a cesspit of bullying and nastiness’.”
As the pair broke into laughter to cut the seriousness of the conversation, Bennett closed it with some decisive statements on her future in politics – namely, closing the door on talk that she’d be returning to it anytime soon.
“Do I miss politics? No. Will you be running for the Mayor of Auckland? No.”
Tom Rose is an Auckland-based journalist who covers breaking news, specialising in lifestyle, entertainment and travel. He joined the Herald in 2023.
Listen to the full episode for more from Ali Mau about sharing her story and how she wants to help victims, as well as reflections on her broadcasting career, her public relationship and subsequent divorce from Simon Dallow, and how it felt to be outed.
Ask Me Anything is an NZ Herald podcast hosted by former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett. New episodes are available every Sunday.
