HOME   >   OUR MPS   >   ROSS ROBERTSON   >   SPEECHES

It is a pleasure to be here today, and I very much appreciate you inviting me to your meeting.   You are at the heart of our diverse community - you are the inspirational champions of the vital ingredient of community - our social capital. 

Today I seek your views on ways to improve the perception of and participation in political processes.   It is an issue affecting national politics where we have seen a substantial decline in affection for and participation in political processes since the 1950s throughout the western world.

I understand that the Citizens Advice Bureau has a Code of Conduct.  So, too, do many Government departments and private organisations.  On 19 June the State Services Commissioner, Dr Mark Prebble, released details of a new Code of Conduct which will apply to thousands of people working in New Zealand's State Services. When issues of employee behaviour arise in any organisation, a Code of Conduct is often the first step on the road to solving the problem - for example, a great concern in the recently concluded Dame Margaret Bazley Police inquiry was the lack of a Code of Conduct, and this is one of the first points to be addressed by the Police Department.

Mr Prebble says the major aim of the new State Services Code is to encourage good behaviour and to strengthen the high level of trust that the public, Ministers, and Parliament all have in the State Services, for trust in and respect for government is based on the integrity of its institutions.

I shall address the issues of integrity, ethics and accountability in these politically "interesting" times from my own perspective through my role at Parliament (although I suspect that the same problems that beset Parliament are faced in many workplaces throughout New Zealand).   Each day as I sit in the Speaker's chair, I feel we need to have aspiration to, and assurance of, the high standards with which we should consider our nation's affairs and destiny. 

We need to remember that democracy is fragile, and we owe it to those who fought  so that we might have freedom of speech to debate the issues with passion and commitment.  This we should do rather than attacking personalities, in order to haul the House out of the depths to which it has sunk in the eyes of our nation.  A sage once said "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people".   I know one thing for sure after 20 years as your MP - people prefer the character of our country being discussed, not the pettiness of personalities.  Politicians who deface and defame others - who play the man and not the ball - should remember that we see the world as we are, not as it is ... and "he who throw mud loses ground".  In this case it is the whole political process which has lost ground! 

For the last five years I have been privileged to be a part of the traditions and conventions surrounding the role of the Presiding Officers.  My role is to personally assume responsibility for maintaining the order and dignity of the House during my sessions as the Speaker, and this fits in well with the principles of the Code of Ethics which I have proposed for New Zealand parliamentarians - somewhat different from a Code of Conduct, for ethics are more embracing of leadership by example.   

The current situation cannot be dealt with solely by a Code or our written rules.  What we need is a major rethink among politicians of how political business, political debate and government itself is conducted.  For me, ethics, values, and the spiritual dimension are the most important issues to ensure the survival and development of democracy this century. 

Throughout my parliamentary terms I have been concerned about the public perception of our profession.   Currently I serve as Chair of the "International Council" of the organisation Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), a dynamic network of over 1300 legislators from 118 parliaments engaged in a range of action-oriented initiatives that promote democracy, peace, justice and development throughout the world.  I have discussed Codes of Ethics with my PGA colleagues, and at a forum on Ethics & Accountability in the US Senate in June 2004 we concluded that transparency, ethics and accountability are pre-conditions of good governance. 

The question was once asked of me by television personality and former MP Willie Jackson: "Do you think a Code of Ethics is needed, and why?"  My response was "Yes", and for two reasons:  first, that there are no specific guidelines about how members should conduct themselves from an ethical point of view;  and second, "trust" - politicians worldwide are the least trusted profession.   In fact, the 2007 New Zealand Reader's Digest poll ranks 40 professions and reveals that politicians again take out the bottom spot, with car salesmen, psychics and sex workers just ahead.   This is somewhat disturbing - while such perceptions may, or may not, be based on misunderstandings, they still matter, because they are the public's perceptions.

The mausoleum for the first New Zealand Labour Prime Minster (Michael Joseph Savage) extols that ‘there is no fame to rise above, the crowning honour of a people's love'.  Modern politicians do not need to be loved but we do at least need to be respected.   In 2005, ‘did not vote' finished third behind the Labour and National parties in the New Zealand election;  in 2002 it finished second.  The minor parties were well behind.  In many jurisdictions there is a rising sense of a rift between the leaders and the led, and this is expressed in low voter turnouts at elections, trivialisation of vital issues and the turning away from service by capable people who abhor the ugly public face of parliamentary culture.  

I would like to see MPs working to ensure the reinstatement of integrity and service for all citizens, and so let me now tell you a little more about the Code that I have proposed.  It is aspirational and supportive of MPs, and deliberately modest, declaratory rather than mandatory.  There is no evidence in New Zealand of the sort of corruption that has plagued other parliaments from time to time, or that is endemic in some other countries.  The principles on which the Code is based include integrity and accountability, for it is accepted that these qualities are prerequisites to maintaining confidence and trust in politicians.

By beginning simply and not sanctimoniously, we recognise that most members are hard-working and sincere.  The future of the parliamentary system is in our hands, and we want an agreement about the kind of tone we wish to emanate from Parliament.

The typical purposes of such a code are:

1.         To recognise that service in Parliament is a public trust;

2.         To maintain public confidence and trust in the integrity of parliamentarians individually and the respect and confidence that society places in Parliament as an institution;

3.         To assure the public that all parliamentarians are held to standards that place the public interest ahead of parliamentarians' private interests and to provide a transparent system by which the public may judge this to be the case;

4.         To provide for greater certainty and guidance for parliamentarians in how to reconcile their private interests with their public duties;

5.         To foster consensus among parliamentarians by establishing common rules and by providing the means by which questions relating to proper conduct may be answered by an independent, non-partisan advisor.

While society expects that individuals should be as free as possible to pursue their private goals, parliamentarians are always in the public eye and our actions, values, and ethical conduct send a signal as basic norms of acceptable behaviour.  As parliamentarians we need to define what we consider to be ethical conduct in New Zealand, for today what is right and wrong is what you can get away with.   Perhaps such a definition could well be based upon the words of the pre-eminent contemporary German social philosopher Jürgen Habermas, who stunned his admirers not long ago by proclaiming, "Christianity, and nothing else, is the ultimate foundation of liberty, conscience, human rights, and democracy, the benchmarks of Western civilisation. To this day, we have no other options [than Christianity]. We continue to nourish ourselves from this source. Everything else is post-modern chatter."  

Actually at the heart of all religions there are very similar notions - such as the golden rule - "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".   The rule is implicitly egalitarian - if we are obliged to treat others as we wish to be treated, we must regard them as basically like ourselves and equally deserving of fair dealing.  I delight to listen and speak throughout the electorate, in churches, temples, mosques and sacred places,  as well as seeking out the sacred deep in the heart of our community, in places like the Otara markets, where I am most Saturdays with friend and colleague Dave Hereora MP.

When I initially petitioned my colleagues with my draft Code of Ethics, initially some of them were doubtful, suggesting that all of my colleagues would become my enemies (not just those sitting on the other side of the House!).  Then they were chastened by a referendum that cried out for a significant reduction in the number of MPs (120 down to 99), which in fact was opposite to the considered view of the Royal Commission on MMP which suggested 150 MPs.  

Last year I made my third attempt through submissions to Parliament's Standing Orders Committee, a committee that meets only once or twice a year, to persuade my colleagues to adopt a Code.  It was my third strike.  I am hopeful that I might have more success on this occasion - time will tell - but if not, some of my supporters have suggested I consider legislation by way of a Private Member's Bill.

With regard to my goal of raising respect for both Parliament and our New Zealand democracy by improving the performance of Parliament, it may not happen overnight, but I am convinced it will happen.   Next week marks my 20th year as your representative.   I have always thought that there is a spirit of service, a spirit of community - and that the spirit of the law is as important (if not more important) than the letter of the law.   We have fought many battles over the years, and today I trust that you will sustain my attempt to pursue a Code of Ethics, for together we serve and together we prosper.

To that end, I ask you two questions:

1. Do politicians deserve such shallow esteem for their standards of service?

2. Is a Code of Ethics a useful way to consecrate the kind of political climate we expect?

I would appreciate you discussing this issue with your family, friends, and community groups, and let me have your letters.

Then I believe that through my service as a presiding officer in the New Zealand Parliament, I can take your insights and we can do what we Kiwis have always excelled at:  be a model nation, a peaceful, progessive, harmonious and hopeful community for others to enjoy.

 

 

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