Melodrama, fisticuffs and generally aberrant behaviour:Gender, norms of behaviour and workplace culture in the New Zealand Parliament

Abstract

In 2018, following a series of public reports alleging bullying by politicians, a review of the workplace culture of the New Zealand Parliament was commissioned. The Francis Review, released in May 2019, uncovered serious issues including systemic bullying and harassment. In the wake of the review and its 85 recommendations, a voluntary code of conduct for Members of Parliament, staff and visitors was introduced in July 2020; negotiations around an Independent Commission for Parliamentary Conduct are still ongoing. These recent developments must be situated in the context of a broader, long-running debate on standards of parliamentary behaviour and, particularly since the advent of mixedmember proportional (MMP) electoral system in the 1990s, what an inclusive and representative House should look and act like. This article maps how gendered norms of parliamentary behaviour have been established and challenged in the New Zealand Parliament.