I deliberately waited before writing about yesterday’s chaos in Parliament. I read the reports, watched the headlines multiply and then went and watched Debbie Ngarewa-Packer’s own video of what happened.
And there is a problem.
The story I watched unfold is considerably more complicated than the story many New Zealanders were served.
Here are four things worth remembering.
First, give me a break over the sudden outrage about the word. It has previously been spoken in Parliament by Government minister Brooke van Velden. In that instance she was quoting commentary and was not removed from the House. Even Speaker Gerry Brownlee subsequently acknowledged it had been fully expressed and suggested it would have been better avoided.
That does not make the word appropriate. It does, however, make consistency a perfectly legitimate question.
Second, the Assistant Speaker, Maureen Pugh, was told by NZ First MP Casey Costello that Ngarewa-Packer’s comment had been directed at the Chair. Ngarewa-Packer acknowledged using the word, but the published account does not establish from her own admission that she directed it at Pugh. Instead, she attempted to argue that the same word had previously been used in the House before Pugh ordered her out.
That distinction matters.
Third, an allegation made during a point of order is still an allegation. Journalism should establish what happened rather than allow somebody else’s interpretation of events to become the headline as though every element were uncontested fact.
Fourth — and this is the part our major media organisations should be worried about — when the same framing is replicated from outlet to outlet, readers understandably start asking why they need five news websites to read essentially the same version of events.
There was plenty wrong with what happened yesterday.
The language was ugly. Parliament descended into chaos. Willie Jackson was eventually ordered out as well after attempting to challenge the apparent inconsistency, and the whole spectacle overshadowed what MPs were actually debating — legislation giving Police new move-on powers.
That legislation affects real people.
Yet once again the political theatre became the story and the substance disappeared.
We should expect better from Parliament. But we should also expect better from journalism.
Report what happened. Explain the context. Separate allegation from established fact. Show people the footage where possible and allow them to make up their own minds.
Because when the public watches the source material and concludes it does not match the story they have just been sold, the damage is not merely another bad headline.
It is another little piece of trust in journalism walking out the door.
#Opinion #TeKaupapa #DebbieNgarewaPacker #TePātiMāori #Parliament #CaseyCostello #MaureenPugh #WillieJackson #Media #NZMedia #Journalism #MediaTrust #MoveOnOrders #Election2026 #NZPolitics #TeAoMāori #Aotearoa #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea
