It was just another day on the New Zealand Parliament on Wednesday with lawmakers from both sides, speaker, and a baby.
New Zealand lawmaker Tāmati Coffey had just returned from his paternity leave with his one-month-old son. To facilitate Coffey during the debate the House Speaker, Trevor Mallard babysat for him and even fed milk to the baby. Mallard tweeted a photo of himself feeding Coffey’s newborn son while presiding over the debate.
The speaker captioned the picture with a pinch of humour “ Normally the Speaker’s Chair is only used by Presiding Officers, but today a VIP took the chair with me.” He also congratulated Tamati Coffey and Tim for the newest member of the family. It was Tamati’s first day in the Parliament after paternity leave.
New Zealand’s speaker, Trevor Mallard fed an MP’s baby during a parliamentary session. The baby is the son of Labour MP Tāmati Coffey and his partner Tim Smith. https://t.co/5ig2my4IZY pic.twitter.com/7ZyMeglaYT
— euronews (@euronews) August 22, 2019
Normally the Speaker’s chair is only used by Presiding Officers but today a VIP took the chair with me. Congratulations @tamaticoffey and Tim on the newest member of your family. pic.twitter.com/47ViKHsKkA
— Trevor Mallard (@SpeakerTrevor) August 21, 2019
Other lawmakers supported Mallard too. Gareth Hughes, a Green Party parliamentary member, posted a photo of the baby in the Parliament saying, “Lovely to have a baby in the House, and what a beautiful one.”
Lovely to have a baby in the House, and what a beautiful one @tamaticoffey pic.twitter.com/EP6iP9eQES
— Gareth Hughes (@GarethMP) August 21, 2019
Netizens Appreciated Mallard
The netizens were quick enough to praise Mallard after he posted the picture online. His tweet garnered over 1300 likes and was retweeted frequently within hours of posting.
One Twitter user said: “New Zealand..you might be a small country, but you have a huge lesson to teach the world! Great photo!”
#NewZealand settling new benchmark in inclusive Parliament!
"Speaker of the House #TrevorMallard today happily fed MP Tāmati Coffey’s baby son Tūtānekai Smith-Coffey
after coming back from paternity leave. The House speaker babysat for him during a debate"
(��: Trevor Mallard) pic.twitter.com/U15rMhjsSs— Kumar Manish (@kumarmanish9) August 21, 2019
Regret unavailable
— Trevor Mallard (@SpeakerTrevor) August 21, 2019
This is why I love New Zealand
— Tyler Brailey (@TylerBrailey) August 21, 2019
This small action speaks mountains. �� from perth Australia.
— changes! (@mah_matilda) August 21, 2019
Dear NZ, we’re feeling a bit broken by the quality of our public figures at the moment in comparison to yours.. Please feel free to come invade whilst our warships are off fighting Trunp’s battles for him. We are very willing to become the West Island.
Love, Australia— Diana (@dianainoz2) August 21, 2019
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