Announcing his decision to leave Parliament, Act leader John Banks yesterday said his political career was partly driven by the experience of seeing his parents sentenced to prison in the High Court 50 years ago on abortion charges.
The same court effectively terminated that career this week when it said he should stand trial on electoral fraud charges.
"Half a century ago on a wet Friday afternoon, I witnessed my mother and father get sentenced to very long terms of prison and taken away," Mr Banks said, struggling to hold back tears.
"I stood outside the High Court on that Friday afternoon aged 17 absolutely committed to a lifetime of hard work, honest endeavour and public service to try and balance the family ledger."