Being pilot is different to being passenger, and not until one has done it do they know what it’s really like.
As in life, in Parliament you have to take your opportunities with both hands, and MPs know they have to give things a go if they’re to make traction, including at the deep end.
Greg O'Connor questioning submitters from Federated Farmers during submissions on the the Arms Legislation Bill Photo: ©VNP / Phil Smith
There’s always a need for back-up, particularly in the big chair, because Parliament’s debating chamber can’t function without a chairperson presiding.
Primarily it’s the Speaker in the chair. But that’s a big job whose responsibilities stretch well beyond the chamber - so much so that there needs to be a deputy Speaker. Even then, the two senior speakers are busy enough that they need some backup to help with the grunt work of managing the many hours of debates.
That’s why there’s usually at least two more MPs appointed to help out in the chair - they’re called Assistant Speakers. Early in 2022 a third Assistant Speaker was appointed to provide more leeway in case of Covid and the Flu. This week unexpectedly all three Assistant Speakers were ruled out. As a result, MPs resorted to appointing two more assistant speakers just for the week.
Opportunity knocks
And so Labour MP Greg O’Connor and National MP David Bennett found themselves unexpectedly elevated, albeit temporarily, to the big seat for a week.
“It’s like you can fly as a passenger in a plane as much as you like, but when someone tells you to get up and fly the thing it's slightly different, and that's what I felt like this week,” O’Connor said.
“Having been in the House and seen speakers come and go and watched, relatively disinterested, the activity around the chair, all of a sudden I now know that there's quite a bit more to it.”
When you’re in the chair, there’s little chance you can get away with playing Tetris on your phone like you can as an MP in the benches.
“Concentration is the word. There is so much happening around the House that you can’t afford a lapse of information at any stage. It’s not just like flying the plane to Auckland, it’s actually like landing, with full attention required,” the Ōhāriu MP said.
“No doubt there’ll be a bit of muscle memory in there that I’ll acquire, or that deputy speakers and assistant speakers acquire just from spending time in the chair. But there’s a wee way to go before you’ve got that muscle memory, so every motion, everything you’re required to do in the chair is pretty new, and learning and re-learning.”
National MP David Bennett Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
As the person in the chair you can follow the drill sheet. Yet it’s not simply a case of reading aloud.
“It’s a well oiled machine around the processes, however you’ve got to provide a lot more of the lubrication yourself as the speaker in the chair or the chair of the committees of the House, which has been most of the work this week.”
Learning while flying
Having done it for a week, a busy one at that, you wonder is taking the chair something either O’Connor or Bennett could do again? Bennett won’t because he is soon to retire. But O’Connor was keeping an open mind.
“Now knowing what I didn't know at the start the week I realise how much I've got to learn. There’s a lot more to it than it looks from sitting down in the safety of the House where you can stand and sit down and do your work, live in your silos,” O’Connor said.
“But I'm looking forward to it, it really is a challenge. For someone at my stage of my working life to be offered this opportunity, it really is a privilege. And like with all these things we want to make sure we absolutely give it our best, I'm getting my best.”
Who knows, with the upcoming retirement of Speaker Trevor Mallard this month, and the imminent retirement of one of the Assistant Speakers, Ian McKelvie, there’s likely to be some vacancies among the Speaker’s stable.
